The Nature of Wild Things
by ImGoingtoDie
Summary: In order to preserve peace with Jotunheim after Loki tried to destroy them, Odin sacrificed a handpicked Aesir child to the wilds of Jotunheim. Now, Loki has a choice to make: tame the beast within himself and the girl, or lose the only family he has left.
1. Chapter 1

This morning would see a change in the usual droll routine that Loki faced day after dreary day. The moment the business of the realm was taken care of, Loki was escorted to the training grounds. It was packed with soldiers and mercenaries striding purposefully or pausing to test their weapons with practice strikes and swings. They were competing for a chance to join Loki and the royal guard on their survey of every one of the Nine Realms. Ever since the incognito change in command, Loki was discovering how much of a true dunce the AllFather was in comparison to himself.

Thirteen centuries. That's how long it had been since in-detail surveys had been submitted of each of the Realms.

Loki sat back and watched with interest as the first battle took place. It was a standard free-for-all between one hundred able-bodied men and women, with each one fighting to be the last one standing. They fought until the last twenty Aesir were left, then departed to the side to allow the next hundred to enter the arena. It took all day for them to finish the accursed thing. In the end, the decision was made to take the remaining one-hundred from the ultimate contest.

Loki was watching the servants pack the last of his things early that next morning while he was busy trying to write with one eye. How Odin didn't lose his mind trying to do things with just one eye, Loki didn't know. Their first realm would be Jotunheim, for it had received the most change. Part of that was because of Loki himself, he thought amusedly. It was a twelve day journey by vaskebjørn, a massive beetle-looking thing with a thick layer of fur and fat. Loki went to go back to his rooms but was intercepted by one of the servants. "Allfather, we are prepared to leave," the servant knelt to his knees. It seemed that the AllFather had a superiority complex. "Heimdall reports that Lord Byleistr would like to accompany you until you reach the High West Mountains."

Loki merely nodded and changed course. There were several squadrons of soldiers waiting as he strode through the grounds. All of them were saluting as he passed; oh, if only they knew just who they were really saluting. He only nodded to Heimdall as he activated the Bifrost, channeling the entire surveying party to the icy surface he truly belonged to. The air itself burned his lungs in Loki's Aesir form, and it was quite dark despite Jotunheim's twin suns being up at high noon. Loki looked up at the five vaskebjørn awaiting their party. They were massive. Just one of those could likely feed the entire Asgardian royal court for five years including Volstagg the bottomless pit.

"Ah, many greetings, AllFather," a voice called out. A large Frost Giant appeared wearing the traditional loincloth and furs, but his were more...decorational and elaborate. So...this was his brother? He wasn't impressed in the least.

"Lord Byliestr, many greetings from Asgard. I hear tell that thou shalt be joining us for a short time."

"Yes, you hear true. Shall we mount?"

"Indeed."

On the back of the vaskebjørn, Loki looked around him. Its back was broad enough for him to walk across, and it was about four times the AllFather's chamber in size. Their shoulders had been fitted with some kind of railed barrier that would help prevent them from falling off. How kind, Loki mused. Byleistr joined them, as did several other Jotun appeared to be members of the royal court. They were all warriors. There were some younger looking ones running about playing though.

"AllFather, sire look out!"

Loki turned just in time to see one of said children coming straight for him. Before he could do anything, he was hit and on his back with a wheezing groan. He opened his eyes to see everyone gaping at him. Curses. Loki looked down at his hands and saw that lo and behold he was Jotun. The jig was up, as Midgardians seemed keen to say. He stood slowly, dropping his guise. All the Aesir began raising their weapons.

"Heed me," he commanded. "Odin, AllFather, is dead. I, as the only remaining royalty to take the throne, have saved you from total anarchy and destruction. Be aware of these things as we travel onward," he commanded, picking up his cloak. "Show me to my section," he snapped waspishly.

"As you wish, King Loki," Byleistr said with a sneaking grin.

They moved away from the main group to the center of the vaskebjørn's back.

Scaffolding had been erected in various places around the edge but there was only one section in the middle. Loki walked through; Byleistr had to duck behind him. The furnishings there were comfortable, and the cushions from the bed were piled onto the floor. Byleistr eased himself down onto them and smiled at him. "We'll be underway in a little while, they're just doing the last checks now."

"You said nothing about children and that entire court of yours coming along," Loki snarled, pacing. "Thanks to you, I nearly lost the Throne in two seconds."

"Be at ease," Byleistr said casually. "There is nary a way anyone can get word back to Asgard with this information. It is contained, brother mine."

"Do not refer to me so informally." Loki felt the floor lurch beneath him. They were finally getting underway.

"Have it your way," Byleistr smirked.

"My King," a Jotun knelt outside the door. "Your wives request your presence at the head. It seems the city wishes to give their best."

"Indeed," Byleistr said, having to nearly crawl out.

Loki glared daggers and knives at his brother's back as he left. He had to remain calm. If he let his temper overrun him once again, they would have another Bifrost situation all over again. He nearly died from that disastrous fall. He just needed to keep a level head…level. Loki flung a flask of wine, causing it to shatter as he heaved air. It seemed the Norns were ever against him. No matter, he'd curse them all anyway. He would reign eternal, for he was ever the trickster.


	2. Chapter 2

The hunters of the pack spent the sun-rising setting up stations along the edge of the valley where they would be hunting for the majority of the day. There was a distinct feeling of anticipation in the air among all the pack members. The only Aesir there could feel it coming off every member of the pack as they went about their tasks, tails swishing about excitedly. The pups were running back and forth in the midst of their play, and even betas were excited as cleaned away the bloodstains of a previous kill. The Aesir was to be a Blocker used to keep their prey in the valley while Hunters killed their selected target.

The Aesir took up her station with the other Blockers and looked out on the icy terrain. It was too dark to make anything out yet, but the sky was just beginning to lighten as the pale sun rose up over the cliffs. The beasts the Chasers forced into the valley were gigantic. The children were big enough to flatten any of them utterly if they got too close to them. The bodies were covered in thick white and blue speckled fur, and their massive claws dug deeply into the ice beneath their feet to keep traction on slick land. Their necks were long and their heads tapered to a point like flyers. Their faces were covered in light blue scales that reflected the light with a rainbow-esque sheen, and their beaks ended in dull rounded points. All of that just made them more and more intimidating.

The first gradually made its way past the hidden Blockers. The second creature was equally slow, but it wasn't apparently big enough for the Hunters' taste. The biggest thus far appeared at the start of the corridor into the valley. That one! The Hunters had to pick that one. They waited until it was too far forwards to back out, then the first of the Hunters went for the creature's throat. Its teeth pierced the tissue and burrowed in, ripping away flesh. The creature roared loudly and tried to turn, but the Aesir and other Blockers were already at its heels. Roars and screeches echoed into the day as they fought the creature down into submission. It took them almost four sun shifts to bring the beast down to the snow as it continually oozed red waters.

When it finally began to tire enough to stop swinging its deadly horns, the Hunters began to launch themselves directly at it to end its life. They landed on its back and all scrambled quickly to the thing's head. They began biting and eating and tearing until the beast stiffened and slowed. As soon as the beast was having a hard time breathing, the pack began to rip away hide to eat at the still-warm flesh. They crawled inside under the skin to ensure they got the biggest pieces possible first. It was every pack-creature for themselves.

The Aesir tried to get in on the feast, but immediately the Leader bit her paw, making her yelp and hide behind a snow drift. Once everyone in the pack was full, the Aesir was finally allowed to scavenge what was left that was edible. The Leader began leading the pack back to the den as soon as she started eating. She'd have to be fast if she wanted a good sleep spot. By the time she had eaten everything she could, the sun was beginning to sink, and the Aesir had to run to catch up with the rest of the pack. She, like the pups, was allowed to ride the foot of an adult to keep her paws from freezing on the ice cold ground.

At the den, the Aesir played with the pups in the snow like she did every evening. They were the smallest ones of the pack and the least likely to injure her. They would bound over the snow and use their large muzzles to find her hiding in the snow. She'd bite at their ears in play and then a game of fake-Hunt would ensue between them. It ended though when the pack Leader came to corral them into the den before the moon ate up the sun. It was very cold in the dark, and the blue two-legs came at night and tried to eat her pack mates.

No one ever came back if they went out in the dark.

_Ever._

Dark was bad, but the Aesir couldn't quell her natural desire to seek out adventure. Sometimes…at night, she would sneak out at watch the sun chase the moon in the sky. The Aesir wasn't allowed in until everyone else, but when she did get in, she was hit by a wave of bodyheat. She curled up in the bushy tail of a pup, balling up her body to preserve body heat in the still-chilly den. She burrowed down and listened as the Leader let out a safety wail before laying himself down at the entrance. No one left when the moon devoured the sun. That's how most pups died. They somehow got out and froze to death, were hunted, or they were eaten by another, much bigger creature than themselves.

When the Aesir slept, she dreamt of wearing a layer of fur that was thin and soft, but it could be changed and had many colors and patterns and accessories. There was a female who looked like her, and she used a stick with fur to brush her head fur out as she purred in her chest. She made sounds too that sounded familiar to the Aesir, but it had been so long since she'd heard them. There was a male like the Aesir too. He bared his teeth a lot like the female, and they bumped faces. They wrapped their arms around each other and her too. She made cackles in her throat like the Hunters did sometimes. When the Aesir woke, it was nothing to her but faded memory.


	3. Chapter 3

The days passed by as they travelled on through snow and blizzards that seemed to be normal for Jotunheim. The men travelled between the Vaskebjørn by throwing steel across and zip-lining their way across. Loki personally found the steady pace of the Vaskebjørn annoying and slow, but he seemed to be the only one to be eager to get back to Asgard. Artists sat on the edges and drew the different features of the landscape as they slowly passed. Loki was about to rip his hair out from boredom at this rate.

The air grew thin as they made their way up the mountain road. Large walls of ice grew up high on either side of the path as they went deeper into the mountains. Here, the Jotun filth among them took their leave. The mood had calmed after they were gone. After four days, they cleared the mountains and reached several vast and barren plains. The Vaskebjørn's pace quickened on the flat ground and the mood grew cheerful. Loki, however, was still tense and irritable. He couldn't stand to be usurped again...not again. He didn't think he could take another bout of that. Knowing the men among him, he wouldn't be surprised if an attack came on his life in the night. Any one of them would try and eliminate him had he not paved the way for Thor's giving up of his birthright. Without that, Loki would be dead already.

It took three days in total for the Vaskebjørn to tire out and need a break. They were led into a circle and tied together to keep the wind down near the ground. Thick rugs were nailed into the ice before they began setting up the tents in circles. On the wind, there were vicious, wolfish cackles. The Jotun drivers explained that it was likely a pack of hyenadon. They were apparently as large as two stacked Aesir horses, and they looked like the Midgardian hyena only tougher to kill. These creatures traveled in large packs and often took down prey larger than themselves…much larger.

The dinner atmosphere was one of a party among the Asgardians. Everyone was finally able to stretch their legs without fear of falling to an untimely death. Food was served on platters and handed from person to person to take what they wished. Loki cast a light spell above the centre of the camp, and they sang loud songs terribly out of tune. Loki swallowed mouthfuls of mead and soon actually began feeling tipsy himself. He enjoyed himself for the majority of the evening watching others act the fool for once. However, all that changed when he saw a pair of large black eyes staring at him from the shadows. The large, unblinking black eyes sobered Loki, and he nearly called for an attack until he realized what those eyes belonged to.

They belonged to a naked, gangly-limbed female Aesir. She was perched in a crouch on her hands and the heels of her feet much like a toad or a pup begging for scraps from the royal tables, covered in sores and bruises. She had thick blonde hair that seemed to cover her entire body in an...unusual way. He could only see shadows, but Loki also thought he saw she was missing a toe or two and at least a finger. Part of her ear was gone as well. She was emaciated and looked at him from within sunken eye sockets. What was this creature doing in Jotunheim of all places? For some reason, those eyes were quite haunting in their constant assessment. It was like they saw straight through him like he was nothing at all. Oddly enough, Loki felt a suddenly odd connection to the woman. They were both thing that didn't belong where they were placed, and now it seemed like they were looking through a window pane at each other.

He needed to speak with her.

Standing, Loki turned towards the woman, and found her looking straight at him with those bottomless black eyes. All celebration seemed to stop as everyone looked at what their King was so drawn to. Loki took a small step forward, and it seemed to trigger the small, pathetic thing into a response. She let out an animal-like growl and bolted into the darkness. Loki, however, would not give up on his curiosity so easily. "After her!" he snapped. "Don't let her get away!"

He sent two squads of able-bodied men to chase after her whilst the others secured the shabby borders in case she brought company to their doorstep. In the meantime, Loki pulled a Jotun driver aside—then becoming Jotun himself— to speak about what was going on. "Lord Loki," the driver bowed. "I have only heard drunkard myth and farmers' legend of a golden child living off the wilds of Jotunheim. Nay, I know nearly as much as you. I do know that stories say she runs with the hyenadon as if she were one of their own."

"Truly?"

"Yes, Milord."

"Interesting indeed," Loki said broodingly. "We can only hope she hast not escaped into this damnable blizzard. Curse the Norns."

"My King," a voice bellowed from the right. "They bring the heathen now!"

Loki could hear loud snarling and barking as he turned to see five men trying to pin the woman down as they tied her wrists. She had a feral, uncouth look about her that Loki found to be quite intriguing. He had never heard of or seen the like of one such as her. It was as if he were gazing at a new species. When they finally did get her tied up, she still continued to writhe and cause quite the mess. Loki cautiously knelt beside her head and carefully pulled hair from her face. "Get the leftover meat from the fire," he commanded, holding out his hand until it was filled.

He held up a piece of meat to her mouth and she growled at it before sniffing it. There was nothing human about the girl except in her appearance. She licked it next before hurriedly devouring it and trying to get at Loki's fingers for her next bite. Loki took a second piece and fed her again, and this time, she merely licked his fingers innocently. Yes, she was a bright little thing.

Loki couldn't honestly help but be aroused by the display of a naked woman hungrily lapping at his digits, so he hurriedly grabbed a new piece. This time, though, he cautiously reached out to pet her like one would a wolfhound being tamed. She flinched as she swallowed the meat and looked at him expectantly. Loki was by this time quite absorbed with interacting with the odd little thing, and he untied her after feeding her another piece of meat. "Dost thou have a name?"

She looked at him curiously.

"Thy name?"

Nothing. So...she didn't understand him it seemed.

"Canst thy understand what I say?"

Again there was nothing. It was times like these when he wished he had the ability to harness the All-Speak like Thor. Apparently though when you murder the AllFather, the Norns don't take kindly to it and don't let you harness its full potential. The girl looked at Loki, and then she looked around at the other Asgardians in amongst the camp. She walked on all-fours like an animal and slowly came closer to him, looking at him again. She cautiously nudged his hand, and then tried moving her fingers like he did.

The woman used her own hands like clubs rather than actual hands really. And she used her head to nudge things as well like his leg or to get his hand onto her head for more petting. Loki soon learned that the best course of action was to play a game of mirrors with her. The woman looked at him with child-like curiosity as she tried to stand on two legs just like he did but failed miserably. Loki had to help her to walk much like a parent would a toddler…a very large toddler. She soon got the hang of a very slow hobble in which she was hunched and kept her arms up next to her chest. By that time, it was late and Loki was growing weary of keeping his eyes open for much longer.

The mead was wearing him down. He led her into his tent and started to wash off her skin and shave away the layer of bodily hair that had grown to keep her warm in the wilds of the icy wasteland. Her skin, to his surprise, was icy to the touch, and as it warmed, she began to keen and whimper likely in pain from her body thawing. He dressed her in a tunic and let her burrow into a pile of furs he had to spare, but not before chaining her ankle to the post.

She was valuable to Loki because she was new to him. He wanted to experiment…to study her. She was like an old, leather bound book filled with delectable secrets and knowledge that Loki had yet to unfold. He had to make sure she stayed so he could observe her for much longer. What if he could teach her and introduce her to society? That would make for a much less boring droll of paperwork and sitting on a throne day after cursed day. It would add some color to his now dreary exsistence. Perhaps he could use her to his benefit as a weapon, or he could use her for other purposes. Either way, Loki simply couldn't lose such a rare gem or opportunity.


	4. Chapter 4

The Aesir girl woke up feeling unusually warm despite being in the den with her pack. Wait, she wasn't in the den anymore. She was in a dome with a creature that looked like her because she left the den at night and got caught. Well, the thing didn't look _exactly_ like her, but they were both pale and had only thick head-fur. The girl burrowed further into her own nest of furs and fluff pads as her mind slowly began to stir. However, a flapping noise pulled her attention as someone stepped in the dome. The girl growled warningly before hiding deeper in the fur to shield herself from the sunny haired one. She couldn't trust them. They were tan and big and thick. They were different. She didn't like them. The only thing that could lead to trust was the yellow head-fur. She had that too, but she didn't feel like wasting her time on them.

"My King," the thing rumbled, looking warily at the girl. "We shall soon be nearing the end of our quest on Jotunheim. The map makers implored that I inform you of various cities we have come and gone by. Wouldst thou wish to halt?"

The nice one that looked like her shook its head. "Nay. I wish to be rid of this place as soon as is possible. It gives me ill tidings."

The man bent himself and left. The Aesir girl looked over at the man like her. He was staring at her. She quirked her head to the side as she watched him using a stick to scratch things onto white flat stuff. "You rested well I assume," he said without looking.

The girl wanted him to feed her.

She got food every time she asked for it. That never happened with the pack that was likely better off without her. It bothered her that such pivotal family was gone, but it only briefly passed her mind at times. Right now, she focused on surviving. Whimpering, the girl moved forward on all-fours until the chain around her paw stopped her. She hated that. It kept her from moving a lot and having play-time. "Art thou hungry?"

That "hungry" sound meant food! The Aesir girl barked shrilly and tried to move forward, but she was stopped again. The chain was making her ankle sore and made the skin peel. The thing like her looked at her and tossed a red round thing to her. She caught it in her teeth and was hit with a scent of plant when she crunched into it. The blood of it was sticky and clear, and it tasted like plant as well. With a hack and a short bout of coughing, she spit the red thing up and proceeded to wipe her tongue on her salty arm.

The thing like her smirked. "Thou hast no taste for apples?" he chuckled. "Come now, you can't be merely carnivore? We must broaden thy diet."

The girl growled.

"Come here," he said, patting his leg.

She didn't move until a piece of meat appeared in his hands. The Aesir barked and rushed over, taking the meat from him greedily. He made a chuckling sound like her pack mate did, and knelt next to her, watching her with green eyes. She hadn't ever seen green eyes before. It was an entirely new color for her to comprehend.

Head cocked to the side, she reached up and touched his face, running her fingers over the contours of his brow, his cheeks, and his jaw. She held his thin face in her two hands and stared into his green eyes. Turning his head, she ran her fingers up and down his ear, even feeling the soft black hair hanging down his back. Once she had her hands on him, she seemed unwilling to remove them. Her touch was exploratory in a clinical way, not seductive.

"What are you doing?" he finally asked with a chortle and a smirk.

She had moved to his chest and was tracing her fingers over his armor. It was yellow and black and green, and it felt very different from anything she'd ever touched or even seen before. She seemed completely unconcerned about what she was doing to him. Taking up his hand, she turned it over and over in her own, looking closely at the smooth, pale skin, touching his finger tips with her own. Dropping his hand, she shifted to take his foot, running her fingers over the boot carefully and then looking beneath. Abandoning the foot, she went back to his face, and her searching fingers urged his mouth open. He obliged her amusedly, and she poked around his teeth.

She began trying to get under his armor when he grabbed her wrists to stop her. She wanted to see if all of him was pink like she was. The girl only growled at him and nipped at his fingers to get him away so she could continue. However, when she pushed harder, his temper seemed to grow.

"Nay, girl. I said nay. Stop!" he finally snarled, slapping her cheek.

The Aesir girl yelped as the force of the smack pushed her back. She immediately ran for her nest and hid there, watching the thing like her carefully. He was like pack leader. She had taken her play too far. She didn't like that about him. She lapped at her paw and then rubbed the spot where he hit her. The whole time she whimpered and keened from slight burning sting. She was stopped by a hand on her wrist. It was the man like her, she rolled onto her back submissively. He sighed as he sat in her nest, but she only flinched away.

"Here," he said quietly. "Let me." He used a damp cloth to clean her face. "I...apologize," he said tightly. He chuckled. "Listen to me; thou probably doth not understand me, do you?"

"Do ooh?" she mimicked, watching his mouth.

The thing like her looked surprised. "How interesting. Loki," he pointed to himself.

She pointed to herself. "Oki."

"No, no, Loki...well what shalt I call you by?" he said staring at her. "Sàga."

"Say dee uh," she pointed to herself.

"No, Loki. Sàga."

"Oki," she pointed at him. Then she pointed at herself. "Say gee uh."

"Good. Good," he bared his teeth and petted her head. "There, that shall do for now."


	5. Chapter 5

Vanaheim wasn't all that different from Asgard.

It was a mountainous and hilly land that had trees of red, purple, and even black to the South. The leaves of those trees were of various pastels too. It looked like something a child would think up in their dreams, but that made it no less real. There were many rivers that flowed through the land, and they too were like a completely different world. The fish were massive and covered with protective scales. Some of them had fins as sharp as blades and others had teeth that were larger than his own.

Upon arrival, the Vanir seemed to be quite appalled and shocked. Loki did not hide himself any longer as Odin; there was no reason to. The truth was likely to be discovered at a point sometime soon anyway. As per request, the survey company was given supplies and Vanir horses, large enough to hold two men comfortably and sturdy enough to walk for four days at a time. The journey would take them twenty-seven days as compared to the short twelve in Jotunheim. With Loki rode the girl everyone began calling "Loki's girl." Her name, however, was thankfully beginning to become a more popular term: Sàga. It meant beautiful eyes.

Much like Loki, the men of the company hadn't ever seen such large black eyes. Those with children doted on her as if she were one of their own. However, due to her innocence, she also drew the wrong kind of attentions and affections from those who tended to be…promiscuous. That meant Loki and her "adoptive fathers"—the thought actually made Loki a little sick to his stomach—had to keep a close eye on their new addition to the company…especially with her hatred for wearing the proper amount of clothing.

Throughout the day, Sàga learned new things about her surroundings while she was with Loki. She was still learning to walk properly, and any time she wanted to know about something, she would point and say "wah." Sometimes just her incessant pointing was enough to make him understand what she wanted. Physicians in the surveying group estimated she was only about 600 years of age. To think, the pathetic little thing didn't even know what grass was. She was terrified of it until Loki knocked her onto the ground. One would've thought he'd thrown her into a tub filled with Surtur's lava.

Now, Loki had to keep a grip on her as they rode so she wouldn't try to climb off. Last time, she jumped because she wanted to see what a flower was like up close. Then there was that time she tried to chase down a deer-like creature with daggers for horns and claws like a great cat. She spent an afternoon with no lunch for that little fiasco. Norns, it was like trying to raise a pup.

Now, though, since setting up camp at their third stop, she had become more still and settled. Loki had been conducting the business of the Asgardian realm, and when he went to find her for supper, he found her sitting on the edge of camp. She was forlornly looking at the sunset and whimpering upon closer inspection. How very interesting this creature seemed to be. He supposed he could somewhat understand where she came from. After losing his mother...Frigga, he surely looked the same as she did every time he was left alone with his thoughts. Loki couldn't help but wonder what hearing Sàga's thoughts would be like.

"Sàga," he commanded.

She looked up at him, already knowing her name. She was quite bright for a creature that hadn't had human contact.

"Come eat."

Sàga waddled beside him with her body hunched and her arms tucked close to her chest. She hung on his arm as he escorted her to his tent in a gentlemanly fashion. Upon seeing her food though, she didn't light up as she usually did. Food was the best way to get through to her. Instead, she turned the food away and went to her pile of blankets.

Loki could only sigh in frustration; he couldn't lose his source of entertainment due to starvation and death. If she relapsed back into her feral ways, he'd have to start all over again. Thor would know better how to handle an upset woman than he would. He tended to know how to handle the fairer sex with much more tact than Loki did. Loki leaned back on his divan and called to Sága. She only looked up; she didn't sit up and smile…well, her version of a smile. It was a work in progress.

"Come here," he patted the divan beside him. He was going off of what comforted him as a child. Nothing had made him happier than snuggling up between Odin and his mother. When he got scared at night or was sick, he would go to his mother's side of the bed and ask to crawl in. She never turned him away. Now, he rued those memories and hoped he "cock-blocked" Odin, as Midgardian's say, every time he went in there.

Sàga came to Loki and sat like he did next to him. Loki lay back on the mattress and waited until she mimicked him, and then he encircled her in his arms like his mother would. He didn't smell like cinnamon and magic like she did though. Loki kept Sàga at a distance even as he lay beside her. He didn't want this to become a normal thing.

He sat there in silence, contemplating whether or not this was a good idea. Slowly, it was becoming an atrocious idea. So much so, that he looked down to tell Sàga to leave, but she was already asleep. Loki sighed and looked at her as he watched her sleep. He knew she was homesick, but he couldn't stand someone being so close to him. The last time he'd been this close to anyone was when he was fooling Thor into thinking he was dead…and Thor had wept briefly. But only briefly.


	6. Chapter 6

Hogun stretched awkwardly. He was warming up, swinging his mace over his head as he focused on the target in front of him. There was troubling news on the Vanaheim winds. Loki was alive and well and posing as Odin AllFather again. He was on the pre-planned survey of the Nine Realms, but why was there no revolt? Why was no one doing anything, and where was the real Odin AllFather? All of these were serious questions that required answering. Vanaheim—at least his village—couldn't handle another war under Loki's vengeful rule. They barely made it out alive the last time. And there was that fear in the back of his head that Loki might just try to exterminate them all.

"Heimdall," Hogun called, looking up to the blue afternoon sky. "I must speak with you. Tis urgent."

The sky darkened a split second before it opened up to emit a blinding bright light over Hogun. He felt the familiar pull of the Bifrost taking him away from his home and family. He could only hope his people would be fine without him for the time being. When he found his footing again, he was in the grand, golden Bifrost facing Heimdall. He was standing rigid and waiting, gripping his sword. "You summoned, Hogun?" his deep voice boomed in the dome.

"I have word that," Hogun said, standing at attention like the soldier he was. "Loki is on Vanaheim."

"Are you certain?" his dark skinned friend said cautiously. "There is many a rumor of his continued existence. Tis only gossip I'm certain. I have yet to see him, but I admit that when I seek him out, my vision is blurred in ways unnatural."

"My sources say he has been posing as Odin AllFather."

Heimdall's hand on his sword tensed. "What thy says may prove treasonous, Hogun."

"If tis true," Hogun began. "We must find Thor and bring a stop to Loki's schemes before he destroys the Nine Realms."

Heimdall frowned. "Thee ask me to gaze upon my King with thought of suspicion?"

"If there is nary a need for concern, we shall forget this meeting altogether."

Heimdall looked far off into the distance, and Hogun studied him. He seemed to tense after a brief while before shutting his eyes with a heavy sigh. It only confirmed one of Hogun's worst nightmares. "I am bound by duty to serve the sitting King whether he be Odin or Loki. You, however, Hogun are not bound by such honors as mine. Perhaps it would be wise to seek council with the Warriors and Sif."

Hogun nodded and marched out of the Bifrost, making his way to the training grounds where he was certain they would be spending their day. He couldn't seem too alarmed as he walked though. For all he knew, Loki could have spies all throughout the kingdom or even the Nine Realms. There really was no limit to Loki's power if he had taken on the Odinforce to bolster his own seidr. Upon reaching the training grounds, he found his companions. Fandral was gallantly prancing around as he and Sif sparred with Sif gaining the upper hand. Volstagg was seated with his oldest son over a platter of meats teaching and discussing battle strategy.

"Hogun?" Fandral asked incredulously, looking away from his opponent foolishly. "What art th-aaahhh!" he screeched when he was flipped over Sif onto the ground. His scream was rather feminine and distinct even on the battlefield. Hearing sometimes felt his lip twitch when he thought of it.

"Ah, Hogun," Sif said, standing and dusting herself off. "What bringeth thou to the lovely Asgard?"

"I bring ill tidings, my companions."

"And what," Fandral grimaced as he stood. "What news could be so ill as to make thine voice so grave, old friend?"

"Loki lives."

All of them were stock still until Sif loosened her jaw. "Is that all? Of course Loki would trick us into thinking him dead to further his devious plots."

"Nay," Hogun breathed. "He hath been posing as Odin AllFather. He has the Odinforce. And we know not where Odin is."

"What?!" Fandral and Volstagg cried out together.

"Tis true." Hogun said solemnly.

"Do not tell me I must commit treason again," Fandral whined.

Sif scowled. "We must. Tis for the good of Asgard."

The only question was how.

Every time before, they'd had Thor to make the plans for them. Every time they made plans it usually failed miserably...like that time they went to Midgard to go and get the Golden Prince. Without Thor, that Destroyer would have annihilated them and likely Midgard with them. When they broke Loki and the Lady Jane from imprisonment, all of that was Thor's idea as well. They were practically useless without their Midgard-loving Thunder God. Everyone was silently trying to wrap their minds around what they were going to do…how they would even do it. They couldn't just do nothing. Valhalla knows what Loki would bring Asgard and the Nine realms to.

"We must find Thor," Hogun said. "And return him to Asgard. He must become the next AllFather as was destined."

"Indeed," Sif nodded solemnly. "It must be so."

"Then time is of-" Volstagg stood.

"But let us not go in fool-hearted," Sif warned, putting up a hand to stop their rotund friend. "We must think this through as Thor would."

"We shalt meet in the Stony-Hallows Inn at the witching hour in a week. Hogun, wilt thou return to Vanaheim?"

"Yes. My people will likely be in dire need."

"Then the best of Odin's grace be with thee," Volstagg said, embracing him.

In his mind, Hogun said a prayer for his friends to the Norns. They needed all the help they could get without Thor Odinson to lead their way.


	7. Chapter 7

It was a hot, muggy, summer day in their region of Vanaheim. Loki sat in his study, feeling very uncomfortable in his formal military attire. He looked at the realm work that he did over the past hour and sighed heavily. He could use a wash in the lake near where they set up camp. Now that he thought of it, Sàga could definitely use one too. She hadn't had a proper wash in all her life. However, she had been de-furred and cloth washed back in Jotunheim. That experience was unpleasant for everyone involved. Loki ended up wetter than Sàga was.

"Sàga," Loki said, standing. She stood from her shaded spot with a book of pictures. They hadn't started with reading lessons just yet. "Come. We need to bathe."

"Wah bave, Oki?"

Oh, if only she knew. "Thou shalt see. Thine speech is getting better," he said as he brought some supplies along with him.

"Tank ooh."

"Thou art having trouble with diphthongs. No matter. We shall work on it later."

They set off through the blazing sun, walking in the shade whenever was possible. Both of them, as natives of the cold planet Jotunheim, were rather cold natured. They did not have to go far thankfully. They passed through a few more trees and came to a clearing. The light streamed through the trees, casting different shaped shadows on the place, as well as the lake that was before them. Where the sun hit it, the water gleamed and flickered. Loki quickly discarded his tunic and boots, and he darted into the refreshing water. Sàga stood at the edge, watching him in the water, not moving to join. Loki stopped and looked at her once he was waist deep.

"What?" Loki asked, puzzled.

She looked at the water like it was some demon about to devour her.

"Ah, tis no lakes on Jotunheim. Well, we'll just have to fix that, will we not?" Loki wrapped an arm around her, pulling her in as he began to move back into the water.

"Na, Oki! N-Na! Na!" she screeched as she started to claw and struggle.

"Be still! I shalt keep thee afloat," he spat through the water that she was sending his way.

Sàga stopped moving her arms and looked around like a water-logged cat. The water came up to her collarbone while he held her up. Loki lost control and burst out laughing in a full, gut-filled laugh. He gained composure quickly and dipped his head under. "Now you do it."

Loki guided her head carefully as she went under and came back up. He started scrubbing oils and cleansers into her thick hair and then dipped her head under once again to rinse. He repeated the process with himself albeit with more difficulty since Sàga pinned herself to him like an opossum to its mother. Then he told her to wash herself with more scented oils, and she seemed reluctant. Loki sighed and did it first so that she would see no harm would come to her.

However, as she washed herself, Loki couldn't help but be somewhat aroused. Scowling in disgust at himself, he moved to the shallower water and forced Sàga to stand on her own. The water came to Loki's thighs and Sàga's hips. She still demanded to be close to him, much to Loki's dismay. When she turned to look at him for instruction, Sàga's big black orbs started traveling over his form. For the first time in his life, he was actually embarrassed to be unclothed in front of a woman. She seemed surprised by how he was made, as though she had never seen the difference between male and female before.

She probably hadn't now that he thought about it.

"Wah?" she asked, pointing at the junction of his thighs.

_Oh, Norns help him. _

Blinking, the Silver Tongue himself was momentarily put off by her questioning. What should he say to her? This wasn't spoken of in mixed company, and it was certainly not spoken of to someone with her…innocence. He never denied her answers to questions though; he swore after discovering his parentage to never lie to his children. Sàga was much like a child. "It is...it is my manhood."

She pouted. "I no have. Wah for?"

_Fuck._ "It is...uh used to releases urine," he ventured awkwardly.

She came closer, examining him even more closely, eyes narrowed, as if she were comparing his anatomy against what she knew. "Tat it?"

"No," he answered tightly. Damn her curiosity. "Other things as well."

"Fo...uh...m-mayting?" she asked uncertainly.

"Yes," he said miserably. Damn her vocabulary as well. Damn her entirely to Helheim. "That as well."

"Show."

Loki's face went slack. "Uh..."

There was most definitely a part of him that was thrilled with the prospect of sex with this woman and those big black eyes and high, pink cheekbones. On the other hand, she was almost like a child in her innocence. He wasn't sure he could live with such guilt. "No, Sàga."

She actually pouted. Those damn soldiers were teaching her too much about being a brat. "Eye?"

"Because you will not like it," he replied.

She stared at his privates. Then she looked at his face again, her gaze curious. "Tell."

Well, that was a relatively safe alternative. "I put my manhood inside you."

She narrowed her eyes. "Weh?"

Loki vaguely motioned.

The fact he was red with a blush was humiliating for the King of Asgard. Seeing where he pointed, her eyes widened...but not with alarm or fear. It was delight. She grinned as if she knew something about her body that he didn't. Now she was even more curious about him. Loki was considering using his seidr to knock her unconscious.

"Oh mahood?" To his horror, she reached down and took hold of him, fascination on her face. "Ih ard. Owch?"

"Gentle! Be gentle," he squeaked, then cleared his throat and clenched his fists with the effort to keep his hands out of the way lest he startle her into doing something painful to him. Oh how he would love to force himself past those pretty pink lips. For comparison of feeling, she brushed her fingers down his hip. Then her hand was on him again. Loki could barely breathe.

"Stop!" Loki snarled, stepping away and out of the water. He immediately dressed using seidr and flung her things at her before remembering he usually had to assist her in dressing.

Sighing, Loki went to her, but she only cowered away from him in fear. He hadn't meant to snap…couldn't she see that? He couldn't stand that beaten look in her eyes when she looked at him. It reminded him of Frigga the last time he saw her. Loki briskly helped her with her clothes and then turned her around. She was pouting again.

"Shaw...w-wee, oki."

Loki bristled before gathering his things. "We are leaving."

On the way back, there was nothing but silence and solemnness. Loki held a hand up and let a green, seidr butterfly fly off of his palm. Sàga gasped and squealed before laughing and chasing past him and after the new plaything. Her laugh sounded like icicles hitting a frozen pond. He watched as she chased it away, glancing back at him to smile as if to say "Thank you." Loki couldn't help but feel though, that he was slowly sliding down a dark path.


	8. Chapter 8

Sàga liked to spend her free time lying in Loki's nest since the actual Loki never paid her much attention in the daytime. He was always scribbling on what he called the paper because he was the alpha. Alpha had to do a lot of work. Most of the time, she just slept there by herself, dreaming about her pack back in the cold place. She still missed them, but not being alone made her feel better. Today, however, Loki made her share his desk so they could start up her reading lessons.

He had two books under one arm and a gold cup in his other hand. They sat in stiff, uncomfortable chairs. Loki kept complaining about Sàga slouching, trying to make her back straight. When he was satisfied, he finally opened the book for her. Sàga ran her fingers across the words delicately. She waited until Loki pointed to a starting point, and she tried to focus hard. Some things were familiar to her like yes and no, hungry and sleepy, but they were blurred...like they were from a dream and not reality.

"Shee...uh see…Thrudr…run," she turned the page. "Run…Thrudr…run. Ide…Thrudr-"

"It's hide," Loki corrected. "H-H-Hide," he enunciated. "Go on, try again."

"Hide Thrudr...hide," another page turn. "O-Or the…Tr…Trolls…will…eat…your…fesh?"

"Flesh."

"Or the Trolls will eat your flesh."

"Good," he said patting her head.

Sàga smiled like he showed her. She practiced her smile for him every day because when he taught her things he would smile too. He only smiled for her though in private. When others were around he always had that scowl.

He took that book away and picked up the other book, resting it on Sàga's lap. It had pictures of things like her and Loki, except they were cut open like the prey when the pack members were eating. It fascinated her that all of that...all of it was mushed up inside her. One page had the base or what Loki called a skeleton, another had the nervous system, another had the muscles. They worked their way through the book with Loki providing explanations on every page because Sàga had so many questions about it all. It was fascinating! Sàga turned the page and saw a new picture.

"Tis the reproductive system," Loki explained to her.

"Wahs repodructive?"

"Um...making babies? Thou hast called it mating."

Her eyes lit up.

She hadn't seen a baby like her before. She'd only seen pups from her pack being born, and they looked nothing like her. Loki turned the page to show a picture of a pregnant Aesir woman, its belly protruding outward. The baby was drawn inside. It was sleeping like she did, curled up in a tiny little ball to make herself look smaller.

Sàga smiled brightly and pointed. "Baby."

Loki chuckled. "Correct. Tis an infant."

There was another picture of a heavily pregnant woman. "Biiiig. How stand?"

"With great difficulty," Loki snickered at her wide eyed stare.

"Wah?" she asked, pointing to a cord on the baby's belly.

"Tis the life cord for the infant. It connects the mother's life force to the infant's life force. Tis tied and cut after the infant takes its very first breath. See that, that's proof," he pointed to a dot.

Sàga's eyes lit up and she immediately shucked her confining second fur. She had that! She searched her belly and found the dot, smiling brightly up at him. Loki was right! She gave him what another sun-haired man called a hug and kiss on the cheek. This meant she really was like Loki. And things that were the same…mated together. There really were others out there that were very much like her.

Maybe this meant she and Loki could mate with each other. Sàga really liked Loki a lot. Maybe Loki liked her a lot too. Sàga tried to find Loki's belly button under his second fur, but her pushed her away and stood up. He was turning red again and his manhood was getting stiff. Sàga frowned at him and held out her hand for him to come back, but he didn't.

Loki shifted nervously. "You must rest, thou may keep the book if thee likes," he got up quickly with a blush on his cheeks. "Good night," he said, before leaving her to her discovery.

**I'm loving the comments guys. Much love!**


	9. Chapter 9

Sif looked up as Fandral entered the room at the final stroke of three, the true witching hour of the Asgardian night. Volstagg was already seated there, filling his bottomless stomach and looking rather anxious to be conniving in such an Inn as this. Sif put a hand on her blade when she checked outside the door and then outside the windows. Clear. Thank the Norns that no one had made a scene on the way in either. Still, this needed to be done quickly and fashionably.

"Close the door."

Everybody waited until they sat down before even thinking of speaking. Sif would go first since Thor wasn't there.

"A spy I have sequestered reports that Loki and the surveying company art now on Alfheim. This means he is among the Light Elves, and he shall likely receive a banquet for the sake of banqueting," Sif said as she twirled a knife on the table out of nervous habit.

Fandral snorted. "Typical Light Elves...not that I would complain. Tis nothing wrong with a bit of jovial fun, in my opinion."

"Apparently, our impressions of Loki as a fool-hardy tyrant are not wholly correct. He hath been keeping excellent records and keeping up with the business of the realm. But there is some concern from the spy that tis most unusual."

Volstagg and Fandral leaned forward slightly in their chairs, bracing themselves for the worst.

"Tis some speculation that Loki is keeping a maiden for himself in the camp."

"That foul-" Fandral snarled angrily. "Of course he is! He is a Jotun demon!"

Sif winced at his loud voice. They weren't supposed to be drawing attention. "Be at peace, Fandral. The maid seems to be in good health, though not very bright by any standard. They say she tis Aesir in appearance."

"And this spy?" Volstagg demanded. "They art trustworthy?"

"Indeed. I vow by the very hair of Odin AllFather's beard. Speaking of the AllFather, have we found any evidence of his life force still in existence? Any hope for Asgard?"

"Nay. Neither I nor Heimdall can find any sign of him. Loki has no doubt used his masterful trickery once again," Fandral sighed heavily. "I fear the worst."

"Have faith, old friend," Volstagg smiled merrily though Sif could see something wary in his eyes. "As long as Thor lives, tis always hope for Asgard."

For a while, the room was silent.

Surely they were all remembering their companion and the betrayal they felt when he left them. How could their beloved friend leave them for just one plain mortal woman? That day weighed heavily on them, but they still missed their Thunderer despite their feelings of betrayal. Sif especially missed that large grin and the way his brow furrowed when he thought on somethings. His heart was set more so on the mortal species than her though, so Sif was slowly learning to move on from Thor to more successful sorts of pursuits. Of all the people Thor could have had, he chose the one woman that would leave him for Valhalla before the rest of them.

"How long hath he been away?" Fandral asked absentmindedly.

"Eighty-six suns," Sif said without hesitation.

"I worry for him."

"We all fear for Thor," she murmured. "We must hope that our spy can find something we can use. I do not think I shall be able to bear seeing him again…or letting him leave."

"Nay," Volstagg said with a determined look in his gaze. "Neither could I."

"What dost thou suggest?" Fandral inquired.

"Tis a man who I once knew well. He is an assassin by trade and-"

"Thou jests!"

"Nay."

They were all silent as they weighed their options. Either they could rely on Sif's spy to continue to relay information, or they could use Volstagg's assassin to take out the problem altogether. Loki was so volatile in his attitude and his mood though that the choice was becoming clearer to the quartet. They had to get rid of Loki now instead of later. Even if it caused political turmoil, they could still save the Nine realms this way.

"Fine. Send for thine spy. Tell him to attack on Alfheim when he deems it proper. Dismiss."


	10. Chapter 10

The banquet could not pass by fast enough for Loki. Those horrid occasions always left him remembering his feasts of old on Asgard with Thor, his mother and Odin. However, his men seemed to be enjoying themselves amongst the Light Elves. The drink was strong and the food fresh unlike their dwindling, stale rations. He rushed through dinner, using strong mead to dull his memories and his rapid-moving mind. However, Loki soon found that the drink made his mind shift towards more...amorous ideologies. There was one fair maiden directly on his mind: Sàga. He couldn't shake her from his thoughts either, much to his chagrin.

As the evening dragged on, Loki couldn't help but think of those wide curious black eyes looking at him between bed linens and furs. He could just imagine those thin lips moving over his manhood as she looked for approval and guidance from him. Within moments, Loki was hard as stone and brick, and he needed relief soon. He automatically went to find comfort within the arms of a willing young, and all-too-eager Light Elf by the name of Maehdril. Loki found that he couldn't imagine going to Sàga; she was too innocent for the kind of love he wanted to give her.

Loki let the courtesan guide him to a set of harem chambers before he forced her down onto her knees. He moaned throatily as she stroked his cock, running her tongue up and down him, licking, and nibbling his flesh. Then she started to swallow his length, bobbing her head. Each time she came up, she made a popping sound with her wet mouth before thrusting back down onto him. Loki wasn't thinking about her though. Nay, all he could see or think of was his precious discovery: his treasured Sàga.

Loki stared as the woman swallowed him, pretending it was Sàga on her knees. "Finger yourself," he demanded throatily.

The courtesan obeyed, fingering her clit vigorously while sucking him off.

Wrong. That was wrong!

Sàga wouldn't do that. Sàga would be unsure and curious, begging for his help and attention, and he would give it to her wholeheartedly. He could already imagine putting a mirror in front of her as he taught her how to please herself for him. Norns. No...this elf was moaning too loud. She was ruining his fantasies. She was not his Sàga.

Loki snarled as he used the elf's neck to throw her down, and he mounted her roughly from behind. She sobbed lustfully as Loki pounded her. Loki began to use her hair like reigns to manipulate and control her. How dare she ruin his image of Sàga! This was becoming less and less beautiful and more of a necessary punishment for the Elf and Loki. The courtesan's body trembled as she climaxed, making his blood flow with a savage lust. However, the courtesan's lusty moans evolved into painful cries. Not able to endure Loki's barbaric rage, the courtesan struggled to free herself from him.

"Be still, you whore!" Loki growled, slapping her.

The woman cried out and lunged forward. Growling with anger, Loki snatched an arm, slamming her body back down to his hilt. She begged and pleaded as Loki slammed into her over and over snarling, riding out an orgasmic wave of his own tainted ecstasy.

The courtesan softly whimpered at his feet as Loki dressed down for the evening and crawled into the bed. After a while, the elf also joined him, but Loki shut his eyes and imagined it was Sàga laying down with him in bed after passionate love. With that ideal image on his mind, it was quite easy for Loki to find sleep.

* * *

As soon as Loki vanished, Sàga felt scared and alone.

She made it a point to go searching, and she soon found him in a dark room. Once her eyes adjusted, Sàga saw and watched in a mix of awe and horror as an elf sucked Loki's...um, manhood?

Yes, that. That's what he told her it was.

It was hard and sticking up, and he had a hand in the elf's hair. Sàga felt a tinge of something she didn't recognize, but she didn't like Loki petting that elf and not her. However, Loki moaned out her name. Sàga flinched, thinking he'd found her, but Loki never did look her way.

It took her a moment to realize what she was witnessing and what it was exactly the pair was there for, but when she did, the shock was acute. They were...mating. She froze, watching with widening eyes as Loki mounted the elf and entered her. What he did after that remained hidden from Sàga's view, but judging by the elf's moans, he was doing it well. A cold sweat broke out from every pore of her body.

In the meantime, Loki's leggings slid halfway down his thighs, revealing a firm pair of buttocks. He ripped the elf's skirt up to her back, baring her. When the female gasped, Sàga gasped with her under her breath. She wanted to avert her gaze, yet she couldn't stop looking. Despite what the sun-haired ones thought, she was not entirely ignorant about these things, but to actually see the deed being done right in front of her—and by her Loki no less—was a different matter.

With a mixture of shock fascination she watched as Loki built up a rhythm, thrusting in and out of the elf. Both were vocalizing without restraint. Sàga felt odd looking at it; an unfamiliar pressure, an ache almost, settled between her legs and spread through her belly like wildfire. It spooked her so much that the spell was broken. Snapping out of her trance, she leapt to her feet and fled.

She hadn't gone far, just out to the garden and up into a tree. Heat welled inside her with a tingling sensation between her legs that was still entirely new. She had not been around a male before, and she didn't understand what seeing that had done to her. The feelings though...the sensations. She wondered what it would feel like, mating with Loki. She still felt the strange fluttering in her stomach, the rippling between her legs that seemed to demand her attention.

Curious, she spread her legs and touched herself. A shiver went through her body, surprising her. Exploring with her fingers, she found unexpected pleasure. Would mating feel good as well? It did not seem to interest her pack when the females were not in season. But as Loki explained, she was not the same as her old pack.

Sàga abandoned her explorations as it got darker.

She still had a severe fear of the dark, and she wanted Loki...no, she needed him. Silently, she snuck to the room and took Loki's shirt before curling outside the door and burying her face in his clothes. There were several things on her mind. Why wouldn't Loki mate with her? She was more like him than the elf. Didn't he like her?

Whimpering softly, Sàga tried to sleep despite the cold and the dark.

**Loki definitely has a dark side, eh?**


	11. Chapter 11

"Sàga...Sàga, you are getting sauce and oil everywhere," Loki sighed, laying his head in his hand.

Sàga pretended she hadn't heard him, and continued eating the piece of meat she picked up off her plate...with her fingers. Table etiquette—no, etiquette in general—was a work in progress when it came to Sàga. She smiled at him as she chewed, and Loki couldn't help but chuckle at her beaming face. In a way, it reminded Loki of Thor's dumb grin. Sàga was a fan of sweet things. Apparently sweet was not a flavor of Jotunheim, and therefore, she found it fascinating.

Sàga yawned when she finished her food. But then she began to make pitiful noises. She must have eaten too much again. It was starting to be a habit with her. Loki scooped her up, holding her close to his chest as he went back to her pile of blankets she called a nest. However, her condition soon went from bad to worse. She would not open her eyes, and the whining stopped, turning into a labored wheeze. Loki was growing concerned at her condition.

Loki turned when he heard the flap of his tent open up. He had asked not to be disturbed specifically unless it was a dire emergency.

"What? I sat that plate in front of his-"

Loki turned with rage in his eyes. "In front of his what?" he growled before pulling a dagger from his trouser.

The evidence is overwhelming now that Loki was thinking about it. There had been a servant added once they reached Alfheim's capital without royal request for him to do so. He had promised Sàga he would allow her to sit in "his seat" that evening because she'd done so well with her speech lessons too. The culprit was likely hired, and judging by appearance he was an Aesir and a former soldier, likely from Odin's regime. Loki looked back and saw that Sàga was foaming at the mouth and seizing. Curses !

"Fetch a healer!" he roared to someone...anyone who could hear him.

He'd have to kill the assassin now and ask questions later. He deserved it for poisoning his Sàga…trying to poison him. How dare he be so impudent as to taint her innocence with an attempt on her own life?! Loki would obliterate him. Luckily for him, Aesir justice was swift. He ran at the assassin and began twisting and clashing with him in a blind fury. All Loki wanted was to feel this man's hot blood ooze over his hands and the hilt of his blade. It only took a short while until Loki found an opening in the man's attacks. His dagger entered the assassin's shoulder and stabbed down into his heart. The body dropped when he pulled out the dagger.

"Guards!" Loki shouted. They and the head healer came rushing in without a moment's hesitation. A little late he thought grumpily. "Get this filth out of my quarters. I want to know everything about him and the poison in the food."

They bowed and dragged the body out.

Now Loki could focus on Sàga. The thought of her was like a cooling balm on his angry, inflamed mind and heart. It was almost like a fresh breath of air in a stuffy library and…and he liked it. Norns, what was happening to him? He had to focus. Her breathing was getting weaker, and her pale skin was flushed and clammy. Everything seemed to be blurring together as Loki knelt by Sàga and took her head into his lap.

"Help her," he commanded, but there was no mistaking the shaky plea in his voice.

The healer dropped onto her knees next to Loki, placing a slim hand on Sàga's inflamed stomach. She suddenly seemed so small and fragile, much more so than he remembered…like an infant.

"What is wrong with her?"

The healer would say nothing to him. She kept her face calm, but there was a flash of worry in her eyes that he saw. He lifted Sàga and deposited her onto the bed hurriedly, pushing his books and armor into the floor. There was a flurry of activity around him, but Loki kept his eyes on Sàga. He'd only known her for a few short weeks and already he couldn't think of life without that goofy smile. It would be so dull. How did he get along without her?

Through the whispers, one word caught Loki's attention: poison.

He placed a hand on her forehead, brushing the choppy tangles of hair aside. "Will she be alright?"

"We shall see, sire. Tis much too soon to tell."

"O-Oki?"

Loki looked down at Sàga and nodded. "Yes, Sàga? What is it?"

"I-I hurt."

Something tugged at Loki's throat.

He could barely keep a cap on his emotion in front of the others in the room. It was like being in the dungeons of Asgard all over again. He had to appear calm and collect to those who stared at him like some freak. When his mother died he was forced to grieve in secret; this was the same. Loki locked his jaw and gripped the bed under Sàga. He couldn't lose it...not in front of all these people. Tears started to pool in his eyes. He wanted to do something…to help. He was helpless again…like with Frigga. His world was caving in on him again.

In a burst of rage and despair, Loki projected a force that shattered everything in its path. Glass shards were scattered across the floor, and Loki could see his fractured reflection in each piece. He snarled and stepped to the side, hefting a table and hurling it. Even after Loki's rampage began to subdue, the tent still echoed with the sounds of destruction. A single tear leaked out of Loki's eye. He couldn't lose another! Not again!

"O-Oki," Sàga whimpered, reaching up into the air blindly.

Loki turned and hurriedly gripped her hand, his breath heavy from exertion. "Thou shalt be fine. Rest. I shall be here when thou wakes."

**In this one, I wanted to show Loki's poor grip on his emotions; however, when he's with Sàga, he wants to be better. Do you think this is achieving that? Tell me what you think!**


	12. Chapter 12

A familiar, decadent scent filled the room as several delicious platters were reverently placed in the center of the triangle formed by Sif, Fandrall and Volstagg around the table in the Inn room. Volstagg had sent for the food—of course—while they were waiting for the news from Heimdall concerning the assassination. It would come in a black parchment, and there would be a letter inside, detailing whether or not the assassination of the infamous Loki Laufeyson was a success.

All of them were waiting on baited breath, but Volstagg could hardly take much more of this angst and anticipation. Food. Now. He needed food to soothe his troubled and weary mind…not to mention his anxious stomach. Had they done the right thing in sending that assassin? What if they failed? What would they do next now that Loki was dead? Volstagg didn't honestly think he could look his little ones in the eye after planning a murder. Could he even lay in the same bed in his wife now?

"How much longer dost thou think this shalt take, Lady Sif?" Fandral whined as he took another sip from his wooden goblet.

Bones of a bilgesnipe leg began to collect on the purple platter. Next, Volstagg started going for the fruits and dips. Some of them looked ornate. Oh well.

"I doth not know," Sif grumbled. She was trying not to start ripping the walls apart. She looked like a caged lioness of Midgard. "Heimdall is scheduled to break from post by now. The travel curfew just went into effect."

"Tis that late?" Volstagg asked, trying to include himself in the conversation. "I should be at home. My lasses shall need me to put them to bed."

"So any time?" Fandral asked.

The bottle of now-half-empty wine made a satisfying clunk as it took its place in the middle. Volstagg took a quick swig to wash down the dip.

"Indeed."

Fandral groaned. "Much thee masticate so loudly, Volstagg?"

"Thou knows I eat when I'm nervous," he snapped.

Fandral snorted. "Please. It's more likely thy eats all the time than just at times of sheer nerves, old friend."

"Since I know thou art worried for the mission, I shalt ignore thine comment."

Sif rolled her eyes at their banter and stood, going to the window to shut it softly as a faint breeze carried ocean scents into the room. Volstagg would have complained had Sif not been in her monthly mood of assured instant death, for the Asgard evening was beautiful. This late in the year, one had to be thankful for such glorious evenings. The moon reflected so gorgeously off the waters, and the fall air was unusually warm and crisp against the skin. Ah, Volstagg could almost hear the falling of the leaves off of Idunn's prized trees as his children played in their rooms and argued about who was pulling who's hair. Asgard was a beauty to behold...which was why they had to save it from Loki's wrath. Such beauty would only be devoured by his madness and rage.

"I dare say, perhaps the old coot has forgotten us in his senility," Fandral harrumphed. He likely had a maid awaiting him in her bed.

"Nay," Sif said calmly. "My brother has likely sent a most trusted associate to grant us with his word. He must take precautions in these troubled times. We know this better than most."

Volstagg started in on a silver platter of pork, lamb chops, breads and humus.

He was startled, however, when two brisk knocks hit the wood door. Everyone waited on baited breath for someone to break it down or for the rest of the signal. When they heard the second pair of knocks, Sif opened the door and allowed a cloaked figure into their tight quarters. Everyone relaxed, but only slightly. There was still much that could go wrong.

It was a guard in training that came in judging by the insignia on his uniform and the light in his eyes. Because of this, the Warriors and Lady Sif decided silently amongst themselves to question him. If he read the note, he could report them and not just for the cause of their treason. Loki would likely reward him with money and a boosting within the ranks. It would be more profitable for him to tell Loki than to obey Heimdall.

"Where hast thou come from?" Sif asked, snatching the black letter from the lad. She had a blade ready in her hand.

"Heimdall sent for me from the barracks. He requested I take this to thee and your Company, milady."

"Havest thou looked inside this letter?" she growled, pressing her blade to his throat.

Volstagg smiled an easy smirk at the fearful look on the poor lad's face, knowing he'd passed the test. He looked nearly ready to wet himself. "Nay, my Lady, I-I would never do such a thing. Tis a horrible thing to betray one's comrades."

"Let him be, Sif," Fandral smirked. "Before the lad faints."

Sif relinquished her blade and tried not to smirk as the poor lad dashed out.

The three of them suddenly became morbidly serious as they looked at each other as though to determine what each was thinking. Then all their eyes landed on the black parchment in Sif's hand. It was just staring at them like an incoming Omen. Either it would be a blessing…or a definite curse.

Finally, Volstagg broke the unendurably tense silence. "Open it and let this be over and done. If this continues, I shall have to retrieve more food."

"Nay, thou art scared of thine wife," Fandral snorted.

"Just open it."


	13. Chapter 13

"Alright, alright, come now, Sàga. Thou must lie down. Thou should not have fought me for thy bath; it has zapped thee of all thine strength," Loki said as he carried Sàga into the tent.

All anyone could see of her was a big ball of furs with her pouting face sticking out. She had been quite irritable lately. Ever since Sàga woke from the poisoning only two days ago, she had lost much of her trust in others. It was a major step back in her progress and her studies. Loki couldn't leave her alone because his mind would drive him insane with the possibility of another attack, so he took her almost everywhere.

Loki attempted to steer Sàga towards the bed—his bed, actually, because she absolutely refused to retire to her nest anymore from fear of one of his men coming in to hurt her—but Sàga twisted around, breaking out of Loki's hold for the fifth time that evening. She stumbled a bit, but she managed to keep her unsteady balance. Even ill and weak, Sàga was stubborn and nigh impossible to tolerate. Loki was nearly ready to rip out his hair.

"Thou needs rest if thou art to recover."

"No," Sàga grumbled petulantly. "Don't wanna."

Loki sighed, briefly rubbing his temples.

His patience was already tried. The Norns seemed to be against him for the mischief he could not resist causing daily. It seemed Loki and the other Aesir soldiers had spoiled Sàga all too much. As beloved as Sàga was though, Loki was not well suited to playing nurse to a sulky and obstinate woman. That was more Thor's specialty. Still, he would not leave her to fight back to strength alone.

"Sàga," Loki said again, interrupting her perusal of Loki's desk things. "Remove thine towel so I may put thee in a nightdress."

Though her eyes were glazed with fever, Loki thought he saw a spark of interest there. Surely she wasn't thinking...about that of all things?! Sàga was too innocent for that kind of thought, was she not? Sàga let her towel drop, and Loki looked away, trying to keep his arousal to a minimum. It didn't work. He was hard and stiff as he worked to put her in one of his own old night tunics.

"Now wilt thou lie down? Thou shalt feel this in the morning," Loki asked.

"You too," she cajoled, reaching for Loki's hand, trying to pull him into the bed.

Loki huffed. "Very well," he said haughtily, but he couldn't help but smile when Sàga smiled ridiculously at him. "I suppose I can stay until sleep finds thee."

Knowing she would not lie down first because she was suspicious of her surroundings, Loki got into bed, his arms outstretched as if to showcase his bedchamber. "See? Tis perfectly safe just as I said. Now get in."

Sàga tested the mattress with her hand before cautiously crawling onto the bed and draping herself half-atop Loki, nuzzling her face into the curve of Loki's neck. That would do no good for his mounting erection. Awkwardly, Loki curled a hand around her neck, softly stroking the skin under her ear, and his free arm went around her body, strong and protective. It was how his mother would hold him to comfort him when he became ill as a child.

Sàga radiated an unreal amount of heat; much more than Loki ever did. Loki couldn't help but relax into the embrace, surrounded by her freshly bathed scent and surrounded by her soft flesh. He pet her head, stroking his fingers though Sàga's too-long hair, hoping it would calm her and lull her into a healing sleep.

Once she was asleep, Loki could go back to the work of the realm.

"Tired," Sàga complained petulantly.

Loki huffed. "Then go to sleep, Sàga. No harm shall come to thee if thou wilst just rest."

Sàga only nuzzled closer to him. "No leave Sàga?"

Loki didn't reply, ignoring the tightening in his chest. She rubbed her face against Loki's upper chest in what Loki presumed was a plea for him to stay with her. He wanted to say he had to leave but…he couldn't make her unhappy. He couldn't even deny her anything if he had to. He wasn't _that _kind of monster. He couldn't…and that was terrifying.

Loki glanced down at Sàga.

She was the image of beauty and innocence with her eyes closed, lips parted, and cheeks pink while she was gently breathing. Such feelings caught Loki quite off guard. He hadn't honestly felt this for anyone...ever. Not even the Enchantress, Amora, had peaked his fancies so greatly. There was nothing to this girl in his arms, but she was…the embodiment of innocence and goodness and justice.

Minutes passed with Sàga silent, and just when Loki had begun to hope that she had fallen asleep, he felt her nuzzle his neck affectionately. "Love...you...Oki."

Loki tensed, not prepared for her declaration or the flutter of emotion in his chest that came along with it. "Be at peace, dear Sàga," he purred as he blinked rapidly to clear the tears that suddenly pricked at his eyes. Sàga was dangerous to him. Loki had no defense against her quiet vulnerability, freely given affection, and her craving for Loki's attention. "I will stay with thee as thou sleeps."

"Thanks thee."


	14. Chapter 14

Sàga whimpered as she sat alone in the large tent...all by herself. She hated being alone. If she was alone, the sun-haired ones might hurt her again. She wanted Loki. Loki would keep her safe from the sun-haired tan ones. Sàga whimpered as she stood from Loki's big nest and went to her own nest to hide until he came back. She nuzzled the second fur that she was wearing and sniffed it because it smelled like Loki. It made her feel safe as she burrowed into her nest.

As she lay there, she started to think about Loki. She wondered if creatures like her mated. The creatures from her pack mated with each other. If so, Sàga wanted to mate with Loki, but no one else…just him. The make-feel-better creature said that kind of feeling was called "love." The creature said Loki must love her lots because he never acted protective with anyone but Frigga. What was a Frigga? Maybe Sàga could ask Loki what it was when he got back...because he was gone, and she was alone.

Sàga whimpered at the reminder.

However, she could hear Loki close by. He was roaring and stomping. It was like he could hear her thoughts, she thought brightly. When Loki came in, he let in the blazing hot draft of...where were they? Muspelheimr. He had used magic to make the tent insides cool. Sàga didn't like hot stuff; she liked it cold like in her old home. When Loki came in, he had a scowl on his face as he wiped a filmy sheen of sweat from his brow.

Was he not feeling good?

"Damn those fire demons," he snarled at no one in particular. Then he shoved a table over with his magic. "They will be the ruin of this entire expedition."

"O-Oki?"

"Not now, Sàga," he snapped. "I'm not in the mood."

Sàga pouted and sat up in her nest. "Have question."

Loki ignored her as he paced the room worrying his lip between his teeth. He was grumbling under his breathe and looked like the pack leader again. She didn't like it when he acted like that. Last time he acted that way, he yelled at her and made her eyes leak. Maybe he was sick like she was a few days ago. Maybe he just needed to lay down with her.

Frowning, she walked over to him timidly. "O-Oki, okay?"

"I said no, Sàga!" Loki snarled, using his arm to shove her back.

Sàga yelped as she tumbled backwards. Her back hit the center post, and she yelped when she hit the ground. Pain radiated up her back and throbbed at the base of her skull like she was being squeezed. Her nose was throbbing and bleeding too. W-Why did Loki hurt…hurt her? Loki would never hurt her…would he? He was her mate after all, right?

Her eyes started to leak and whimper as she held her head in her hands. When she looked up, Loki was blue...like the ones that killed her pack members. He had markings on his face and forehead and chin, a few making thin decorations on his cheeks too. The rest of his body was covered up except for his throat and hands. His eyes—a furiously passionate emerald just moments ago—were now a bright red that were glaring down at her. His hair and remained the same though. He was panting, still in his rage as he loomed. Sàga flinched and tried to shield herself from another oncoming attack. It never came though.

Loki's eyes softened when his eyes met hers. He reached for her just a little bit then froze before drawing back. He sighed and ran his hands through his hair. He didn't look so angry anymore. Was he…trying to apologize?

Sàga frowned and reached out to grasp his hand before it got too far away from her. When she touched his blue skin, she grew cold, but then the cold began to burn her. Why did it burn? Loki jerked away from her with wide eyes when she yelped and whimpered. Her skin was blistering like it did to all Aesir that touched him, but she didn't understand. Despite the pain though, Sàga reached for him again, not wanting to let him leave her ever again…not again.

"I am truly a beast...a monster," Loki said, face contorting in disgust as he returned to his Aesir form. When he did, he reached out for Sàga, and she took the hand, whimpering at her blistered hand. "It is a disgusting form to coincide with an equally disgusting race," he added, bitterly.

He went to get bandages and returned, sitting in front of her and caging her with his legs. Then he began to carefully wrap her hands.

"Thou…blue-not-blue?"

Loki sighed with a rueful smirk. "Yes, I suppose I am, aren't I?" he frowned again. "I...I must apologize, Sàga. I should know better than to lash out at a Lady."

"Yes," she agreed with a smile. "Blue thou is pretty...uh...hanshome."

Loki couldn't help but smile back despite how horrible he may have felt. Then he remembered something. "I'm glad at least one of us thinks so," he said, knowing her guilelessness. "Thou wished to ask me something?"

"What...h-habben? Why you mad?"

"Fire demons were awaiting the scouts. Only three survived the attack."

Sàga gawked. Then she looked down at her hand. "Oki, what a Frigga?"

Loki tensed. "Who told thee that name?" he asked ominously.

"The make-feel-better."

Loki scowled before sighing and rubbing his face as he recoiled into himself. He seemed to be warring with himself. Sàga leaned forward and nosed his cheek gently. That's what the pack members did to cheer each other up. He tensed under her touch before she sat back. His face was turning red as he smoothed a hand over his cheek.

"Frigga...was my mother. She was the only one in my family who...who ever understood me and truly loved me. I love her more than I love myself. She uh," he wiped his hand over his face and watery eyes. "Was killed...by a creature I helped escape prison…on accident. She died because of me though."

Sàga offered what the other sun-haired ones called a hug. "Not thou fault. Thou...not know."

Loki sighed and pushed her back. "We should eat soon." His face was still bright red.


	15. Chapter 15

Intoxicated and weary, Loki weaved through the dwarfish dancers of Nidavellur, ready to call it a night when he caught a glimpse of Sàga dancing and playing with a young lad of his company. He was barely out of military training, and he seemed to have kept his pederastic father of Asgard close to heart...but he was still a male. Pausing, he considered marching over and snatching her away from him. She was his damn it, but a split second later, he decided it was a bad idea to go to her. She needed to learn to socialize without Loki hanging over her shoulder, and Loki didn't want anyone knowing he harbored such feelings for her.

After a few hours of drunken, restless sleep though, Loki woke groggy, his head-splitting due to after effects of dwarfish liquor. Yawning as he stretched out under his sheets, he glanced around, but he soon recalled that they were underground. He contemplated lying down once more, but knew he would be wasting his time. Someone would just come to summon him as he was falling asleep. Splashing his face with cold water, he snagged a mug of mineral water tea and strolled out into the gardens outside the mine.

Turning a corner, he heard a familiar weeping echo beyond the boulders.

Sàga.

He darted around, searching until he finally found her. She was curled up in a corner, knees to her chest, face buried in her lap and sobbing softly. "What is wrong?"

Sàga jerked him down and clung to him.

Loki shook his head and was about to chastise her until he realized she was still wearing her clothes from the night before, and they were ripped. Something inside him lurched; instinctively, he pressed his hand to her back, now concerned. Rage was boiling up through his veins. He would kill whoever touched what was his in such a way.

"Look at me, Sàga."

Slowly she lifted her head to face him, her pretty eyes were puffy and red, her cheeks raw from crying and being rubbed. She looked like an innocent Valkyrie taking him to Valhalla. She always did.

"Tell me what happened to thee. Did the lad hurt thee?"

Her pretty face fell, tears streaming from her eyes. "He want walk to stables...to check horsh...and he...he-" her little voice faded.

Loki felt his stomach churn, his gut boiling with anger. "What did he do?" he asked ominously.

"He try to kiss. I-I say na, but he grab me... hurt me," she whimpered, flinging herself into Loki, burying her face in his chest.

Loki wrapped his arms around her protectively. "Did he hurt thee down there?"

"Na."

Loki sighed and pulled her into his lap. "Sàga, thou must learn. Thou must never sneak off into the darkness with any male. He could have hurt thee."

"Thee no hurt me."

"T-That's…different."

Loki would string the lad up before they left. He could blame his death on drunken suicide which was not all that uncommon among the Aesir. Besides, even if they did not believe Loki, he was the King of Asgard. No one in their right minds would challenge him. He looked at Sàga's eyes. He needed to cheer her up.

"How about I play a game with thee. It is thine own choice."

Sàga's eyes came to life, and she squealed with delight. Loki could not help but chuckle at her switch in emotion. "Ookabout!"

Loki allowed her to lead him into the valley near the base of the mountain. "Lookabout? Very well," he chortled. "Slow down."

Loki had only meant to grant her his attention for a few minutes to cheer her up, but he ended up chasing her until it was dark out. She brought out the rambunctious youthful boy that he had not seen in years, making him forget his meager existence. He hadn't even stopped to do the work of the realm; she made him feel…so alive again. On their way back, she demanded Loki carry her on his back. Thank the Nine she was a small thing or he'd be wheezing as he trekked back up to the mine's entrance.

"Oki?"

"Yes?"

"Do…do us mate?"

Loki bit his lip. Why was she always getting him into these sorts of things? By the Nine, she was worse than Thor. "What is mating? Doth thou mean marriage?"

"Wah mallege?"

"Marriage is a union between a man and woman who are deeply in love…usually. They are loyal to each other."

Sàga gasped. "That mate!"

"Then yes, our kind do tend to uhm…mate."

"We mate?"

Loki glanced down, not sure how to answer...not sure he wanted to answer. "Sàga," he sighed as he continued to walk. They couldn't get back to the mine entrance fast enough. "Tis not that simple, my dear Sàga."

"Eye? I love Oki. Oki love Sàga?"

Loki felt himself tensing. "Sàga…love is complicated. Thou should not throw it about."

"You no love Sàga?"

"No I…I suppose I do in a way."

Finally, the glittering entrance to the mine appreared. Thank the Norns! He could get away from Sàga and clear his head of her beautiful face….her smell. She was driving him insane. "Smell that? Tis dinner. Hurry along."

**Ancient pederasty was common place in male-dictated and warrior based places. To me, Asgard seems to be rather male dictated and warrior based.**


	16. Chapter 16

Loki entered the dining hall of the third dwarfish settlement they were staying in with an aura of content, he had just finished the paperwork and reading he typically did for Asgard. What usually took five hours only took three. Perhaps the Norns were finally choosing to bless him. He paused though when his eyes fell upon Sàga among the men and dwarves. He sucked in a startled breath as his content turned to lust.

He could not believe his eyes, and he wouldn't have had she not had that goofy grin on her face when their eyes met. The dwarfish women had put her in a gorgeous gold gown, showing off curves so lush that even a eunuch would blush and a set of perfect breasts that were more than a mouth or handful. Her dark hair was pulled up into an intricate hair design that was interlaced with emeralds and rubies, her flesh silky and pale. She was the most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes on, utterly breathtaking.

At dinner, Loki tried hard to resist peeking at Sàga while the cheiftan spoke with him about something he could honestly care less about. He felt her eyes on him and wondered if she had any idea of what she was doing to him. He glanced at her meeting her goofy smile; she looked like a goddess, innocent and pure. Loki suddenly felt ashamed that he had ever thought such an ethereal soul would ever seep to such licentious acts as sex...and with a demon like him. He hadn't felt so diseased since the night he imagined taking her in place of that elfish maid.

"Sàga," he beckoned to her after the meal was taken. "Come, I wish to show thee something."

It was something one of his map drawers had excitedly pointed out. There was an underground hot spring fed by a steaming waterfall. The water was a bright greenish blue. No Aesir had ever seen how the dwarves retrieved their miracle mineral water. It was like an Aesir cure-all. It cleared hangovers, colds, helped in pregnancy and labor, and kept the body healthy. Sàga would likely just enjoy the fact she could practice her swimming. She took great joy in simple things; it was something Loki was slowly beginning to learn as well.

"Wouldst thou like to ride a horse by thyself?" he asked her as they neared the makeshift stable.

"Na. Too high."

Loki only chuckled before mounting and then hefting her on behind him, directing her arms about his waist. Loki dug his heel in his stallion, racing into the secluded forest. Sàga squealed with delight, begging him to go faster. He obeyed, loving her wild and reckless side. Nearing the falls, she scooted forward, tightening the grip of her arms around his waist, pressing her bouncing breast to his back, grinding her groin into his ass.

Immediately, Loki tried to scoot forward, only to have her follow. He held his body rigid, forcing his mind not to sway into his sick desires. With each gallop, her full breasts slapped against him, her crotch rutting into his ass. Finally, they made it, and he reached behind to help her dismount. He led her to the ridge that created the waterfall and she gasped.

"Oh, pretty!" she declared. "I...I jump in?"

Loki smirked and nodded. "Thou may."

Sàga giggled racing toward the falls and...and shedding her clothes.

Loki slowed his breathing as she pulled her gown over her head, her generous breast revealed to him and only him. He grunted as she peeled her leggings off next, revealing her silky, firm cheeks completely exposed as she sprinted. Norns help him. She bore the body of a goddess. She dove in, crashing down into the water with a splash, and when she resurfaced, she scolded Loki for remaining on the rocks above. She wanted him to join her. Did she know what she was getting into?!

He shook his head. "I am not in the mood to swim."

Pouting, she wailed like a toddler. "Oki! Please? Please?"

Loki snorted. Yes, she was spoiled. "Thee can swim; I will watch."

"Na!" she whined. She did the silly pouty thing with her lips, and within seconds Loki found himself in his undershorts, diving down to meet her.

Sàga shrieked, splashing him, baiting him to chase her through the warm water. Loki obliged, playing her game, splashing her, pursuing her until he finally subdued her. It had all been innocent fun until he caught her. She turned on him, wrapping her legs around his waist, pressing her cunt to his barely clad groin, her wet breasts were tantalizing his flesh. She clung to him, her arms around his neck, gazing into his eyes, the sun warming their bodies.

"Sàga...thou must not cling to me in such a way," he grumbled as sexual gloom filled his heart and then his mind like a poison.

Feeling him harden, she grinned at him, enticing him. "Love Oki. Want mate wif Oki"

That was it. Any more of this, and he would give in. He was not about to give into her reckless game. Loki captured her arms and unleashed himself from them. He set her aside, withdrawing from the water. "Get dressed."

"Oki-" she whimpered.

"Now!" he snarled, turning his back on her to dress.


	17. Chapter 17

The familiar throne of Asgard welcomed Loki warmly unlike the rest of the court. They were in shocked horror and had been in such a state since he arrived. After the trials they faced in Muspelheim and the cave in in Nidavellur, Loki had decided it best to return to the safety of Asgard to regroup. They lost twelve men before escaping the fiery grasp of the fire demons, and then they lost another seven on the dwarf planet. Loki needed his men alive...not dead. They were useless to him if they were just…dead. Speaking with the families personally was an even worse ordeal than watching them die.

They had called him a "monster," "cruel" and "heartless." Mothers had fallen to their knees sobbing and screaming at him to bring their children back. Fathers glared at him like he was Surtur incarnate. The children just gawked at the scene before him, unsure of what was going on or what to do. Wives and husbands fainted, demanded he leave, or sobbed worse than the mothers.

He expected no less from the people of Asgard.

Loki then had to make time for Sàga on top of all of his other duties. Every time he tried to leave her with a servant, Sàga would crawl into a corner and sulk. He hadn't really thought that one through so well when he decided to take her in. The thought actually crossed his mind to dump her off on some family, but he immediately knocked it down and blamed it on exhaustion. How could he ever leave her in a stranger's care?

Today would be Sàga's first day in court, and tonight would be her first Asgardian feast. Loki grimaced at the thought of a feast. When the doors opened to let her in, Loki sat up at his throne. By the Nine, Sàga wasn't supposed to get _more_ attractive, Loki thought petulantly but with no real ire as he stared at the figure who walked into the Asgardian court. He'd expected the worst. He thought she would look bedraggled and mismatched with no sign of tact at all.

She was none of these things...quite the opposite, in fact. She looked much paler in the golden halls and around other, much darker Aesir. Her muddy pond water blonde hair was curled and pulled back from her face and shone with a fresh cleaning, rippling in waves around her shoulders and down her back to frame her gorgeously broad shoulders. The servants had put her in a dark grey gown that cinched about the waist in a corset, making her bust and hips appear large, and it flowed out to the floor. The sleeves looked torn off, but it actually made it look more...well, Sàga. A train billowed behind her elegantly as servants tried to slow her down by pulling on it.

As she walked, the fabric rippled about her legs. Loki swallowed heavily, forcing his gaze back up to her pretty face instead of her wholesome bosom. That was another terrible mistake. The minute he did so, he was faced with black eyes surrounded by coal and golden paint that made them that much more bottomless.

The longer he stared into them, the more he realized that there was something there. Affection? Love maybe? There was definitely a weighty distrust of everyone else in the room. It was a feeling they both shared. He could tell by her body language that she was itching to get to him, someone familiar. Loki was itching for her to get closer too but for an entirely different reason.

Flustering slightly, Loki stood and bowed his head, slamming Gungnir to draw the court's attantion. "I welcome thee, Lady Sàga, to Asgard," he stepped forward. "I am-"

"Oki," she said, smiling brightly.

The name he'd heard all his life sounded so strange, coming from that voice. Why though? He'd heard her say it many times before. It hadn't ever made a difference before now. It took him a moment to realize there was silence.

Everyone was waiting for him to speak. "King Loki, yes."

The room let out a sigh of relief.

If anyone else had interrupted him, he would've been much less forgiving. He likely would have stripped them of rank and honors and then have had them executed publicly. He may have just killed them on the spot if his mood was right. Sàga was different though. She was his to spoil and charm. She was his period.

A heavy swallow closed his throat. She was untouchable by his lethal wrath. The thought actually startled Loki. He couldn't be growing soft...not when he just succeeded in taking Asgard. He sent Sàga away, telling her he would be around later to take her to the feast. Loki couldn't have her in such close proximity. It was bad for his image as King of Asgard and as God of Mischief. Someone would see that the Trickster had a weakness.

Loki could have no weaknesses.


	18. Chapter 18

While everyone was still celebrating the return of the company, a very lonely and skittish Sàga had been sent to her chambers by Loki while the others drank heavily in the mess halls. Loki said the drink, called mead, made people do bad things when they had too much of it, so she would be safer in her room. She had just gotten out of the little lake in the other room and into her nest when a drunk Loki came stumbling in before locking the door behind him. Both actions required the use of his magic which was currently sloppy at best.

"O-Oki?"

"Ah, there she is: my Sàga!" he declared loudly and triumphantly like he had won a prize. "There is nowhere I would rather be than in thy presence."

Sàga blinked innocently as Loki rambled, shifting awkwardly. Did he have too much of the bad drink he told her about? Loki couldn't do anything bad to her though. He loved her, so he wouldn't and couldn't ever hurt her.

"I was sitting at the table, drinking and feasting when I realized thou twas not among us," he said, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her from the bed to spin her in circles, trying not to fall and drop them both.

She giggled as he nuzzled his face into her neck. "Oki, tickles."

The nuzzling soon turned to kissing though. Each kiss sent a funny feeling down her spine. Did...did Loki want to mate? Sàga gasped excitedly and shifted to give more access. Loki hummed as he made his way down her throat. One hand began to slide to the bottom her nightdress at her feet that Loki gave her when they got to Asgard. Loki swallowed thickly. With little prelude, he leaned down and pressed his and Sàga's lips together.

Sàga had seen some creatures like her do the face-bump, and she had been quite curious. She was glad she got to explore the bumping with Loki. Sàga didn't have a single complaint as Loki slowly taught her the way to do the bump. A quiet whimper sounded in the back of her throat at the friction between them, and she couldn't keep her from rocking against Loki because of the feeling in her belly.

Loki then let go of her entirely. He broke their kiss and reached down to pick Sàga up and deposit her on the bed. He let her drop onto the pile of soft furs, bouncing slightly. She giggled and started to bounce on the bed. He rushed to remove the many pieces of his uniform and Sàga's nightshirt, forgetting his seidr in his drunken state. Sàga observed curiously as Loki undressed, eyes round and taking in each detail of his body, totally curious. She began to touch his bare chest.

As soon as Loki was undressed, he lifted the hand on him by the wrist and kissed the palm. "Always so curious, my Sàga," he murmured.

Without another word, Loki crawled over Sàga until they were face-to-face again, and he stopped her bouncing as well. His body hovered over hers as he leaned down to press their lips together in a second kiss. Loki's breath hitched as he felt Sàga run her hands over his chest, her nimble fingers exploring each sinewy muscle. He couldn't seem to stop. Finally, he lowered himself down to press Sàga down into the mattress to keep her from moving around and trying to play, their bodies touching everywhere. Loki broke the kiss only to begin kissing Sàga's jaw, her neck, her shoulder, and then down further to her collarbone.

Sàga began to writhe beneath Loki, panting and whimpering as he continued to bump his lips into her skin. It felt so good. Her lips were swelling and red. "O-Oki," she whined, rubbing her hips against his. It felt so good. Everything felt so strange, and new to Sàga, and she wanted more. "Give."

Loki grinned as he flipped them over before manhandling her until she was sitting between his legs, her back against his chest. He conjured a mirror at the end of the bed and lightened the room. "It's time for a lesson, Sàga."

She whimpered, not understanding the innuendo. Why weren't they doing the feel-good-stuff anymore? She just asked for more. Why wasn't she getting more?

"Look," Loki purred, manipulating her hair gently to coax her into looking at the reflection.

Loki then ran his fingers over the peach colored peaks on her breasts, peppering kisses on her shoulder as he proceeded. Sàga jumped at the sensation, startled, but soon, she was enjoying it and panting into his neck, arching against him.

"Let's begin," he mumbled as he slipped his hands over hers and coaxed her fingers to stroke her cunt as Loki called it with a faint, feathered touch. She gasped and arched into their hands. "Tis not a race," he murmured. "Tis more rewarding to prolong the feeling."

When he was certain she understood the slow, deliberate pace, he pulled his hands away. His lust soaked fingers reached up to fondle her breasts, and she whimpered under his touch. The sight of her pleasuring herself in the mirror excited him, and Loki studied the way her muscles flexed under the skin of her thighs. His manhood throbbed against her back, and he let out a soft moan at the sight of her pressed against him.

"After a while," he said softly, "Thou wilt surely begin to go crazy. So, every once in a while, reward thyself." Loki pressed his hand over her own and guided her index finger to stroke firmly at the sensitive spot inside her folds. She yelped as she arched into him and continued to obey.

He contented himself with watching her again, admiring the pale sheen of her skin against his slightly darker complexion. His tongue darted out to taste the sweat on her neck and the slick on his fingers. Her hips were beginning to buck and he eased his hands over hers pushing them away from her cunt. Sàga whimpered, desperate to continue, but then Loki buried a slender finger inside her and stroked her firmly with the edge of his thumb.

Sàga let out a cry, her hand going out to grip his knee, nails scraping his flesh. "O-Oki!"

Sàga's mind was so clouded with the new feeling that it was impossible for any thought to make it through her mind. She could feel pressure building, needing relief. Her moans became louder, more desperate, as her hips began to stutter, and all she could do was rest her head against Loki's shoulder, clinging to him as if his life depended on it.

And then she tumbled over the edge. It felt fantastic...better than having no hunger pains even.

When Loki shifted back on top of her, she gave noise of complaint, pouting up at Loki. She was getting tired after crashing down from her high. But Loki was not finished with her. "Now this will likely hurt, beloved," Loki said softly, spreading her thighs so he could rest between them and line the head of his manhood up with her entrance. "Just breathe," he said as he kissed her again, showing nothing but tenderness as he pushed into the body below him.

Sàga yelped and tried to squirm away, but Loki held her still. She whimpered and her eyes leaked because it hurt her. It hurt her bad. It took a while longer for the painful sensation to evaporate. Bringing her legs up to wrap around his waist, Loki moved slowly, just barely pulling out before rocking back in, not wanting to harm her any further. Sàga tossed her head back and let out a long groan, meeting Loki's hips halfway.

Loki hissed as Sàga raked her nails down his back, knowing the marks would be there for days. The fact that they were both marking each other was beyond arousing. He increased the speed and depth of his thrusts, pushing in harder and deeper with every snap of his hips. Then, he changed his angle just so and he rocked into that bundle of nerves, giving a low groan of his own. The entire room was filled with moans after that.

As new as everything was to Sàga, it was almost too much sensation for her. Every nerve in her body felt like it was on fire, and all she could do was move against Loki begging for more. Every thrust pulled her closer to a second release, though she was quite a ways off from it. Loki set a punishing pace, hungry to hear Sàga cry out. His arms wrapped around her, holding her tightly to his chest in a protective hold. Loki brought Sàga to the edge quicker than she thought could be possible, and before long, familiar warmth began to pool in her stomach again. She could hardly believe these sensations existed. Her cunt muscles clenched around Loki of their own accord, and she was all but screaming.

Loki groaned as she clenched around him, resting his forehead against hers. Sàga's eyes rolled back and her entire body began to tremble as she finally felt herself break. Loki grunted and thrust roughly before stilling. When it was over, Sàga slumped against her nest, legs falling apart as her entire body went limp and a dazed fog settled over her. She was so tired. She really wanted to sleep.

Loki hummed in satisfaction. "Sleep, my precious Sàga," he leaned over and pulled her against his chest, reaching down to pull a blanket over them. He placed a soft kiss to her forehead before drifting off to sleep himself.

**Apparently Loki is a happy drunk! lol**


	19. Chapter 19

The dawn came slowly on the hills of Asgard, the sun rising from a blushing sky and trailing up as it blanketed the entire city in a familiar Asgardian gold. Some citizens were awake and working, but those were mainly the peasants. The warriors and nobles, however, were sound asleep. The previous night's celebrations had taken a toll on more than half of Asgard. The fact that no one truly liked the King was ignored in favor of celebration and good drinks. The streets likely held more than a few passed out bodies and the castle was probably waking with groans of pain and headaches. Many had done something stupid last night and were waking to regret it, and Loki was no exception to this general consensus.

Loki woke groggily, groaning as a vicious headache pounded within his skull, thumping the sides and trying to get out or make his head explode from pressure. His mouth tasted like ash and his vision was spinning in lazy, unending loops. By the Nine, why wasn't he dead?! He felt like he should be dead at this point. Bits and pieces of reality mixed with dreams as his sleep-numbed body came back from whatever high it had been in during slumber. Odin's beard, even breathing hurt.

He tried recalling the previous night.

It came together like a story in his head, starting and ending with sharp emotions and lust and mead induced stupidity. He sat up gingerly as he thought about what he had done last night. What came to his mind was Sàga and her milky white skin that was begging to be touched and tasted and marked by him and only him. He could remember her pressed against the bed; he recalled her crying from pain of losing her maidenhead. He couldn't recall anything else though. He hit a mead induced mind wall. He tried to think consciously about how he had taken Sàga, but...had he even taken her? Or was it yet another dream? After all, he was alone in the bed.

Loki shifted his leg, and his skin rubbed against something stiff and scratchy-a wet patch dried over. Loki grabbed the furs and pulled them away only to gape in sheer horror. It was a patch of blood, and it was large! Loki went pale as the sheets beneath him sans the blood. No...no, he actually hurt Sàga? How could he allow himself to do something so horrid?! He was a monster, a demon deserving of death and eternal torture. He could just see his mother frowning upon him from Valhalla.

Panting, breath broken, Loki began to hope he hadn't...hurt her. Not her. Please not her. Horrible thoughts and images came to his mind; Sàga screaming in agony as Loki held her down and rammed into her, leaving her bloody and damaged, her trying to escape him and pleading with him while Loki had both her legs over his shoulders and forcing himself into her bloody entrance, or Sàga lying bruised and battered and curled on her side, biting on her lip to stop sobs from waking the monster beside her.

Panicking, Loki leapt out of bed and put on a robe. He had to find Sàga and beg for forgiveness. But where was she? Loki used his seider to search for the familiar life force and found it in his bathing chambers. He hurriedly ran to the doors and ripped them open.

Sàga jumped as she sat in the tub before she smiled innocently at him and waved. She was playing with the suds in the water before he came in judging by her state of dishevelment. She had a washing cloth hanging from her mouth which she was apparently shaking like prey. Water droplets were everywhere. That didn't distract him from the light pink tinge of Sàga's bath water. "Hi, Oki."

"Oh, Sàga," he rasped as he strode forward and knelt at the edge of the in ground bath. "I am so sorry, my Lady. I promised thee I wouldn't hurt thee and then I-"

"Why sorry?" she gawked, wide eyed.

"I-I hurt thee during our coupling, and I made thee bleed quite a lot. Thou…thou art not hurt too badly I hope?"

"Na. Feel fine. Little sore."

Loki let out a sigh of relief. "That tis truly good to hear, my Sàga. Tis normal to be sore. Were…were thee satisfied last night?"

"Love Oki. Happy Oki mate wif Sàga. Oki happy?"

Loki smiled and nodded, stroking her wet head gently.

Sàga giggled and wriggled out of the tub both wet and completely naked. She shook herself much like a dog before wrapping herself around Loki. And she was naked!

"Norns," Loki hissed, finally returning her embrace after the shock wore off. "I should rot in Hel for what I've done to thee…for what I feel when I see thee."

Loki moved to get Sàga a towel and watched her dry herself before following her out and watching her put on his nightshirt again. She went and lay on the bed, avoiding the stain of blood. Loki waved his hand, and the sheets were replaced with clean linens. She made a small, pained noise as she turned to look at the seidr as it vanished. Loki moved forward and sat beside her, pressing his palm to her abdomen. He couldn't bear seeing her in pain.

Sàga gasped as green light fluttered over her skin.

He looked into her eyes warily. "Tis better?"

She took the hand still on her abdomen and tried to move it between her legs.

Loki pulled his hand away as if he touched burning coals. By the Nine, she'd be the death of him. Sàga pouted in the bratty way Loki found amusing. Guilt overwhelmed him as he ran a thumb over her cheek. He would do anything for her, and it terrified him. He would fall over himself just to please her and make her smile.

"Alright...but just this once. I must attend to the realm business afterward."

"Want touch Oki."

"What doth thee mean?"

Without answering, Sàga pulled apart his robe and took hold of Loki's half-hard manhood.

"G-Gentle! Not so tight, Sàga!" he yelped, loosening her hold on him.

Loki guided her hand up and down his shaft before letting her work on her own. He let out a long, breathy sigh as Sàga's hand moved, bolder and more curious. She shuffled closer, her face inches away from Loki, and Loki could hear as she inhaled his musky scent.

"Want suck," Sàga said petulantly.

Loki tensed. "Where didst thou learn about that?"

"Elf."

A thick red blush covered almost all of Loki's face, neck and chest. She…she had seen that? The thought was both intimidating and arousing for him. "T-Then thou may. Be careful of thine teeth."

The sight of Sàga 's head hovering above his spread thighs made him shudder. Loki wasn't even fully hard yet, but he grinned at the audible whimper Sàga let out as she eyed Loki's erection. A drop of pre-spend wept from the head, and Sàga curiously licked it up. He nearly came in that instant as he let out a soft grunt. She gave an experimental stroke as her wet tongue swirled over the head of his manhood, coaxing out more pre-come from the slit.

"Yes, that's it," Loki panted. "That's my good girl."

Sàga placed hungry little kisses all over his veiny shaft like she remembered seeing the elf do. Sàga increased her stroking, and suddenly lowered her mouth onto him. By Odin's ugly beard, he had died and gone to Valhalla. A sharp groan escaped him as he leaned back on his hands to get a better look at her, running his fingers through her damp hair.

She looked up at him with such innocence, begging him for approval. She was better than any fantasy he could conjure. "Feel good?" Sàga asked.

"Oh my beloved, tis better than I imagined."

The words seemed to excite Sàga, and her hand on his manhood grew even more eager, picking up speed. Loki could feel her hot breath on the tip of his dick as Sàga parted her lips, sucking half of the reddened head into her pretty pink mouth, pressing her tongue to the slit. How could she be so good just by watching?!

He tried to give Sàga a warning, but all that came out was a strangled groan as his cock began to shoot jets of thick, viscous spend right into Sàga's face. She jumped slightly, but when she realized no harm was coming to her, she experimentally tasted it. Loki smirked as she smacked and licked up more for a better taste. He just cleaned it off with his now soiled robe before snapping and dressing himself with his seidr.

"Sleep now, my Sàga. I shall come for thee when brunch is ready."


	20. Chapter 20

Sif's appearance in Thor and Jane's kitchen was quite unexpected to say the least. How she had gotten inside was a mystery to Jane, as the door and all the windows to their penthouse apartment were locked. Jane and Thor had returned from a trip to the grocer's market—Thor's arms laden with groceries—to discover Sif sitting uncomfortably at the dining table. Fandral and Volstagg soon joined her from the direction of bathroom and TV room. God, she hoped they didn't break anything. They just got done buying a new table. Jane was startled to say the least, but Thor seemed ecstatic to see his old friends. Seeing him greet them after putting away groceries reminded her of what he gave up, and she loved him much more for it.

"My friends, what bringeth ye here for a visit to our abode?"

"We wished to see our old Thunderer," Fandral said before gallantly striding over to Jane, kissing her hand. "And what man would miss a chance to see such a fair maid as thee, Lady Jane."

Thor laughed. "Ah, I see thou art still up to thine old tricks, Fandral."

As far as Jane knew, Thor hadn't mentioned that friends would be dropping by…ever. It was hardly the sort of thing he would forget, especially when it was Sif and the Warriors Thr...Two. It seemed as though the Asain-y one couldn't make it to the reunion. Jane made some mental adjustments about what size pots she would be using for the spaghetti, and counted herself lucky to have had the foresight to pick up a couple extra packages of noodles for dinner. Thor wasn't too difficult to feed, most days, but extra Asgardians would put a strain on their pantry, and it was her turn to cook.

"There is actually a reason we sought thy council, Thor," Sif smiled, but it was not the easy tilt of lips Jane recognized in the other Asgardians. There was tension in her. "We have something important to discuss with thee."

Thor tensed and sat opposite Sif. "Has something happened on Asgard?"

"Indeed."

Thor tensed further, and Jane put a reassuring hand on his shoulder as she stood behind him. He placed a large, warm hand over hers and squeezed it gently. He was getting better about knowing his own strength.

"Loki lives."

Thor blanched. Jane couldn't tell if he was happy or mad. "What? Where is he? I must speak with-"

"Nay," Sif put a hand up. "There is more. He hath been posing as Odin...likely for some time. We know not were the true AllFather is. He could be dead for-"

"No...no," Thor snapped before becoming quieter. "Loki would not go so far as to…as to kill Odin."

"Many apologies," Fandral said solemnly. "But we need thine help, Thor. Only thee can contend with Loki now. Thou must take back the throne and become King again."

"But...what of Jane?" Thor asked, looking back at her with wide blue eyes.

Thor had explained the truth of why he did not stay in Asgard. Jane had felt so awful for making him decide between the two things he loved most in the world: her or Asgard. She had sworn to herself that if Thor asked it of her, Jane would let him go home to Asgard. Now that she had had him for so long though, she didn't think she could let him go so easily. They had gone through so much together and made so many great memories with each other and their friends. Losing him would make Jane lose herself. She depended on seeing that glorious smile when she woke up and depended on hearing his laughter throughout the day.

"If you do this," Sif said slowly. Jane could tell she didn't want to say it. She could feel Sif's eyes on her, and it wasn't a pleasant feeling. "I'm certain Lady Idunn would be happy to reconsider giving the Lady Jane an apple."

Jane looked down. "But...why would she? I'm still just a...a Midgardian to you guys."

"Thou art worthy," said Thor affectionately, as though it was obvious. "Thou art mine as well. It benefits thine purpose."

"But what does that mean for me?" asked Jane, a little sharply. "There is no way to turn back if I choose to eat that apple. What if five thousand years is too much to handle? What if I figure it out too late?! What if we break up or something?!"

"Thou wouldst never be without friends."

Jane laughed. "No one would offer at all if it wouldn't make him happy."

Sif blinked, and shifted. "Thou art correct. The two of you should talk of this later though. This is a lover's spat. Asgard is in grave danger."

Thor was silent for a while before finally deciding. Jane could see a familiar steel of determination in his rainy blue eyes. "I shalt help thee, friends. It shall take some time, for I am aiding the Avengers at the moment."

"We shall await thine arrival on baited breath. I am afraid we dawdle when we shouldn't. We must be off."

Jane sprang up. "Are you sure? You can stay for dinner—it really wouldn't be any trouble."

Sif shrugged. "Thine offer is kind, but we have duties to attend to."

Volstagg chortled. "Speak for thyself, Sif."

"Indeed," Fandral guffawed. "I would love to speak with the Lady Jane and our companion some more."

"Tis settled!" Thor boomed. "We shall have some of Jane's delicious Midgardian delicacies."

**Now the conflict begins!**


	21. Chapter 21

Loki was getting nowhere with trying to find out about Sàga's history. After reading an eighth Book of Histories, he sat at his desk in his chambers. He was going to be reading for years at this rate. Loki huffed and went to put the book back in its place on the shelf. When he did, he must have hit something because the wall that used to hold his mother's potions began to open like a door.

How interesting.

Loki stood and cautiously walked into the side room only to find a private library. Loki was practically salivating at this glorious opportunity. Odin apparently had a secret library that Loki now had access to. Oh the secrets this place could unfold! It was like getting an early Yuletide gift only better. Every step further in was like a step into an unknown land.

The room was circular in shape and rather tiny in size. It was, of course, gold in color with earthen shades intermixed. It was typical decorum of the AllFather. In the center there was a writing desk with an open journal and a quill with a bottle of dried up ink. The ink contained seidr properties like all Asgardian inks, but this was a different form of ink Loki was unfamiliar with. The walls were invisible behind the shelves of books that climbed up to the ceiling. No wonder Odin stayed cooped up in his chambers all the time. Hel, Loki would fake an Odinsleep to stay here if he was him. Loki sensed something move and turned to see the hidden door close to reveal a seidr-touched one way mirror.

Loki returned his attentions to the plentiful books before him. There was one marked for each year of Odin's reign. Further up, there were even some from Bor's reign. Perhaps there would be something about his mysterious Sàga in one of the many books. Sitting, Loki began to read through and soon discovered what the ink actually did. It read the text aloud in the writer's-in this case Odin's-voice. It was likely a mix of ink, blood and a simple seidr. He didn't come across anything until the journal of two years previous.

_3.12.14327 OD_

_Tis only been a month since my son, my dear Loki, chose to end his life by releasing Gungnir. Tis the only time my great weapon has failed me. I feel a tug on my heart when he is not at the table and when he is not listening and taking notes at court as he once did. This was a habit of his before I announced Thor to be crowned Prince. O, if only Loki had not relinquished his grasp of mighty Gungnir. Things could have been so different. Perhaps I had been too harsh on the lad. Frigga weeps nightly, and Thor lies in bed for days at a time, thinking of Loki and that petty mortal._

_Loki's destruction of Jotunheim was beyond severe. The majority of the great ice-city Utgard has been annihilated completely. Bodies are still being found as we speak. They are the bodies of children and women mostly, as the Jotun men are required to join the army. The army was away at the time of the attack. The newly appointed King Byleistr and I have spoken to begin newly formed negotiations between our two realms. We have agreed that peace must be reached if we are to continue to exist._

_They asked for three things. Of these three things, I only delivered two. King Byleistr first asked me for the Casket of Ancient Winters. I, of course, refused his request. Second, he asked for the aid of Asgard and her armies and architects in rebuilding Utgard. Hastily, I agreed and we further made arrangements before Byleistr gave his third and final demand of me. This demand is the decision I wish I could take back. He demanded that to atone for the loss of innocent child-blood, Asgard must give up its most beloved child._

_At first, I thought him to mean Thor. I refused him, but Byleistr said he wanted a child between the ages of 20 and 50. He demanded a census and then a gathering of mothers with their children. If I refused, he would refute our truce altogether. I had no other choice. So, I gave him our latest census—which was taken a year prior—and then issued a decree. I was completely honest with the mothers and implored them to come and offer their child so as to seem like the babes were unloved. I hoped to trick King Byleistr, you see._

_The next day, the throne room was filled with mothers and their babes. There was much tension in the throne rooms of Asgard on that day. King Byleistr saw each one and asked questions of each them. The process took a full two days to complete until he saw at the bottom of the list: a mother who had not brought her child. The mother's name was Svanhildr, and her babe was a 50 year old child named Sigyn._

_"That is her. That is the one," he demanded of me. "Bring that child to me…to the Bifrost." _

_I and Thor were forced to take the girl away from the weeping mother. We took no joy out of our duties. The babe only stared at me as I carted her to the Bifrost. Thor was forced to hold back the mother. If I recall, she had very large black eyes that nearly swallowed the rest of her face up. Her hair was of the typical Asgardian shade, and she already knew some words. _

_She was indeed a worthy child of the task assigned to her. Thor and my darling Frigga pleaded with me to find another way, but there wasn't one. As AllFather, I had to make the best decision for my Kingdom. I could not spare just one girl and sacrifice the multitudes in return._

_I and Heimdall alone watched what Byleistr did with the child. Thor and Frigga would think me a beast if they truly knew. He told me to command Heimdall to send the girl to the Jotunheim wilds. I had no choice but to obey for the sake of peace. Heimdall cast her away, and I bid good tidings to King Byleistr. I ne'er shall ask of the girl to Heimdall. Frigga thinks me heartless and refuses me her bosom while Thor continues to brood. I had no choice, you see._

Loki could only stare in shock at what he had just heard. Odin AllFather was truly a monster of a unique mold. However, Loki recalled Odin saying something about Sàga…Sigyn…having a mother. She would always be Sàga to Loki. Perhaps Loki could find Sàga's mother and could reunite them. Then maybe she would absorb knowledge better. Loki decided to read a little further.

_4.5.14327 OD_

_It seems that the Fates have frowned upon my choice to heed King Byleistr's demands. Tis only been a few suns, and already the alliance between us has become shaky. Word has spread of my choice to give over what is being called "The Daughter of Asgard" to Jotunheim. They are in an outrage that has led to political and social unrest. They do not see that I did everything for them._

_Frigga has finally allowed me her graces, and Thor's mood has begun to improve. However, he has become fixated on the notion that Loki is not truly dead. Heimdall has reported that he has gone to the Bridge and asks of his mortal and if he can see anything of Loki. Of course he never can. _

_It seems that the family of the "Daughter of Asgard" has been doomed to turmoil. The father of the infant has recently died in the heat of a skirmish on the borders of Utgard. The mother killed herself not too long afterwards. Now they all wait on Valhalla to ridicule me when I too join them. Perhaps even now Loki is ridiculing me for my choices from above._

Loki shut the book before he read on further. Sàga could not know of her birth family…at least not at the moment. She would not understand. It would likely be detrimental to her learning to discover she was the last of her family. For now, Loki would remain her family.


	22. Chapter 22

The throne room was practically deserted except for a seldom few servants cleaning up the muck of the peasants who dared to complain to King Loki. Most of the royal court had gone home until morning. Loki hated them all anyway. The way they stared at him was tolerable; he had lived with it for the majority of his existence. It was the way they looked at his Sàga that he despised. They scowled and stared at her like she was less than a commoner…like she was dirt to be scrubbed away. Loki wanted to gouge their eyes out and sew the lids shut. He wanted to rip off their lips and force feed them to those blasphemous gossipers.

The fires supported by massive sconces to light the room in the waning sunlight had burned down from roaring flames to dainty, delicate flickers of warming light. Only Loki and Sàga remained there; he sat on his throne with Sàga sprawled out on his lap, absentmindedly nibbling on a piece of pork.

"If thou keeps pouting, thine face will freeze that way," Loki mumbled, not looking in her direction as he spoke.

Sàga's eyes shot up in fear, dropping the pout from her face. "Sowwy. Cook meat...not so good. Like raw."

"Thou must learn to get used to it. Tis not healthy to only eat raw meats. Besides, I shalt not give thee kisses with raw meat on thine lips," he smirked as he watched her.

Sàga tried to mimic his smirk. Loki could not help but smile a bit. A little sparkle jumped into her big black eyes every time she tried to cheer him up, and it was almost irresistible to him. "This no fun. Want fun. Fun, fun, fun."

Loki rolled his eyes and sighed. "Can we not just retire? Tis been quite a long day."

"Na."

Loki smirked. "Haveth I taught thee to dance yet, my Lady?" he purred, taking her hand and intertwining their fingers until it seemed they could lock in place. He looked at the difference of skin tone and difference in the sizes in awe and a hint of affection.

"Na."

"Well then, I shalt teach thee. Proper ladies of the court must know how to dance."

Loki lifted his hand from where it rested on her hip and pushed her up onto her feet. He twisted their fingers and placed her other hand on his shoulder as he stood them in the middle of the freshly cleaned floor. Loki's own free hand settled at the small of her back, pulling her in until he could feel the heat of her skin through his armor.

"Now, just follow my lead like our mirrors game."

He took the lead step, starting in a slow waltz toward the center of the floor. Sàga was slowly catching up, trying to get the hang of dancing. Soon, she was balancing her weight on the tips of her toes, as she just barely kept up with every long stride he set. He was pleasantly surprised by her nimbleness, especially when he had never seen her dance before. She was just learning to run on two legs, so this was quite the accomplishment for his little experiment.

"I do good?"

"Thou seemest very talented."

She yelped in surprise as he took her by the waist and pulled her down into a dip. Her hands flew around his neck, expecting there to be a drop and for her to make collision with the ground. Soon after, they slipped into swaying together, her head resting on his chest while he nestled his cheek in her hair. She smelled of honey and fresh flowers and snowfall. She was likely spending time in his mother's gardens again.

He purred into her hair.

Sàga was more intoxicating than any alcohol he had ever tasted. He started to think of calling her Sigyn again, but he couldn't stomach it. His father had called her by that name and it made him sick. Sàga wasn't Sigyn to him. He hadn't fallen in love with some ordinary Aesir girl with an ordinary commoner life, but he had fallen...in love...with a mysterious creature he found on Jotunheim that didn't belong…much like him.

"We should do this more often," he murmured lazily. He was quite tired from a day filled with royal duties.

Only one torch was still alive, casting a cloak of darkness over them. They stopped moving completely and just stood wrapped in each other's arms. She looked up, propping her chin against his chest to stare up at him with those big owlish eyes. Maybe it was the dying smolder of the torch or lust-filled mist over his mind, but Loki could swear that there was something different in Sàga's curious gaze. It was sweet and subtle and enchanting. He gently cupped her cheek in the curve of his hand.

"Shall we retire to our private chambers?"

Sàga's eyes sparked and she giggled before dashing off with Loki trying to catch up.

**This is a bit of calm before the proverbial shit hits the fan.**


	23. Chapter 23

The signs started showing up eight weeks after Loki first took Sàga in an intimate fashion. It started with her rather unusual loss of appetite. Sàga was never _not_ hungry. Loki assumed it was because of her malnourishment and her lack of a steady food source. After a few moments of watching her poke at her food, Loki had decided to say something to her about it.

"Sàga, surely thou art hungrier than that. Thou needs food so thine brain can work."

Sàga looked up and shrugged poking at her fingernail with her knife.

"Maidens cannot have dessert until they finish dinner," he whispered. "And no amount of pouting or seducing is going to help."

"Feel...not so good," she admitted. "Sleep?" she asked.

"Of course," Loki said, gently patting her head gently. "I shalt be up in a short while."

When Loki retired for the night, he could hear Sàga heaving in their adjoined bathing chambers. Through the haze of mead and meat in his belly, Loki thought about the turn of events. His eyes widened, and he pressed forward into the room. Poor Sàga was bent over a basin, hands gripping the edges. Her knuckles were white and shaky from her grip on the porcelain, and she didn't appear to notice that Loki had entered. Loki ran over and reached around, grasping Sàga's hair and pulling it away as she continued dry heaving.

Once she was done and rinsed her mouth with water, Loki tucked her into him with a guilty sigh. "Sàga, forgive me. I fear a have brought this pestilence upon thee. I fear thou art with child."

Sàga just stared curiously at him. It made him feel that much worse. "Wah?"

Loki didn't answer her. Instead he pressed his palm to her womb, secretly hoping it wasn't true. Neither he nor Sàga were prepared for this sort of thing. However, he felt the faint flutter of life under his seidr spell. Loki silently cursed the Norns and every other being that could possibly deal him such misfortune as this. He never meant for any of this to happen…especially not to her. What if she died during labor? What if she couldn't carry an infant to term?

"Thou art indeed pregnant. There...is an infant here."

Sàga's eyes lit up. She dashed off and brought back his anatomy book. She showed him a picture of a heavily pregnant Aesir woman. Loki turned back a few pages and showed a picture of an Aesir only two months into pregnancy since it seemed more likely. Sàga gasped and lifted her gown, looking at her flat belly for an actual comparison.

"Baby!"

"No, Sàga, no," Loki sighed. "We cannot have a child."

She pouted. "I want. I love Oki. Want Oki's baby."

Loki sighed as he looked at Sàga and the way her blonde hair curled across her neck, how her cheeks were flushed and her eyes bright and passionate. Loki realized then he was done for. He had fallen completely, and he could deny Sàga nothing…not even this. If she asked for his life, he would willingly put it into her tiny, delicate hands.

"Very well," Loki sighed. "We shall keep it," he murmured.

He looked at her thin wrist in his hand, watched the soft, steady pulse beneath the delicate, pale skin. Loki bent his head down and caught Sàga's mouth in a gentle kiss. Sàga sighed a breathy assent as Loki ran his hands up underneath her nightclothes, his fingers dancing along the soft skin of Sàga's waist.

"Hmm, taste like...cake," Sàga mumbled before lying back.

"Yes," Loki chortled. "Unlike thee, I stayed for dessert."

Since she felt ill, Loki would do most of the work. He unbuttoned her cotton nightdress and peeled it away. Her skin was rosy in the moonlight, and Loki smoothed his hand over the creamy planes of skin, reveling in its lush warmth. Sàga just laid back, eyes glazed and hands curled in amongst the blankets. She gasped and arched as Loki took a nipple between his lips, swirling his tongue around the tip, needling it slightly with his teeth before clamping his lips down around it and suckling.

"Sàga," he breathed, mouthing at her stomach and biting delicate kisses into the skin. "I shall ever protect thee and our child, even if it...requires I give up my throne." Loki stilled as he realized how truthful that statement was. Five minutes prior, Loki didn't even want it but...now that he knew Sàga was happy he couldn't help but be happy as well. He was about to go in for the kill when a roaring clap of thunder shook the floors...but there was no storm.

_No! Not again! He couldn't be back!_

Loki jumped up and all but ran to the balcony to throw open the windows despite his nudity. The Bifrost was activated, and Loki hadn't sanctioned it. They brought his bastard of a brother back! He'd have their heads for this treachery, but first he needed to take care of Thor. Loki took hold of Gungnir and snapped, clothing himself. He looked back to see Sàga looking at him with questions and fear in her eyes.

He needed to take care of her first and foremost. "Stay here. Do not answer that door for anyone."

Loki teleported himself to the Rainbow Bridge, just in time to see his dear big brother step out of the Bifrost with Sif, Volstagg, Fandral and...by the Norns, that mortal Jane was still alive. Well, not for long. Loki and Thor caught each other's eyes, and the weapons were revealed. They circled each other like large Midgard cats. Loki held Gungnir, but it felt alien. It was not his and it would never serve him, no matter how powerful he was. The way Thor looked at him made him feel like he hadn't achieved anything. The pain that has been with him ever since he found out his heritage hasn't gone away...except with Sàga. She was the only right thing he really had.

Nothing remained when they lunged for each other's throats, only him and Thor fighting.

When he fights, all he can hear is the lies and his blood pumping. Lies. All he knew were lies for the last few centuries, and he barely remembered the boy who was up to mischief but never wanted harm. What had he become? Thor, who never fought him with a whole heart, is now so different. Desperate. There is a cold fury in his eyes, and he looks aged. This is no longer a hotheaded boy.

Ice froze and splintered as Loki unleashed his magic on Thor, abandoning the spear. Then the moment came when Loki's defense slipped and Mjölnir hit him full force in the chest. They stared at each other. Loki gasped, blood spouting from his mouth, the pain visible in his eyes. He flew back and landed with a dull thud, rolling a few feet more. He wasn't going to let Thor win...not this time. Not when there was so much at stake.

"I hath never wanted this! Never!" Thor roared as lightning and thunder flashed. "Why, Loki? Why hast thou done this? We loved thee! Nobody cast thee out! It was thee who felt he didn't belong!"

"Because I do not, Thor. I was too dark for Asgard," he snarled as he stood. "Thee and thy father with all thine light couldn't help me. Besides," he growled. "Someone needed to do the dirty work if Odin wasn't willing. I did what had to be done!"

"Was it worth it?! To destroy everything we loved because it hurt?!"

Loki charged. He wanted it to be over...for the pain to stop. The buried good half of him wished to make peace, but his pride protested like a demon within him. "Odin and Asgard's fate were decided the moment he took pity on Laufey's most hated babe!" he hissed.

Loki had good intentions once. After Frigga died, he realized it wasn't about impressing Odin or being better than Thor. He became more and more empty each day, and he never found what he searched for. Well, he found it on his home planet of Jotunheim in a girl who didn't belong...like him.

"I still love thee, brother."

"Silence!" Loki stopped. "This is getting nowhere! You've given up your birthright, Thor. There's nothing for you here."

"You tricked me."

"Uh, hello...Trickster," he sneered. "I will allow thee some amount of safety in Asgard. Thou cannot pass into the palace. Thou art a commoner. I do not wish to see thy filth in my home."

And with that, Loki vanished.


	24. Chapter 24

The Royal Gardens of Asgard were truly a dream beyond the very fantasias human minds. Thor missed them greatly during his time on Midgard, for they reminded him of his mother. This was—in fact—her garden. The flowers never died on Asgard like they did on Midgard. They were a sign of beauty...not mortality. Everything seemed to be reminding Thor of mortality lately. It was because of Jane, he knew. He hated that constant fear that any day could be her last day in his presence. How did mortals not die of bellies filled with ulcers from worry?

Asgard's Royal Garden was like a timeless heaven. Thor could spend many years in the gardens, admiring the works of nature and never notice the time that passed by around him. Seas of wild flowers burned the gold horizon with colors unexplainable to the Midgard tongue.

Cutting through the soil, ran canals with clear cold water. In the canals sprouted lotuses, and amongst them swam brightly colored, peaceful turtles and frogs of Asgardian breed meaning they were much sturdier. The gardens were surrounded by thick walls of trees. Cedar, ash, cherry, willow...the list could go on for miles. Their lustful fruits hung in clusters of juice filled flesh.

But Thor soon discovered that he was not alone in the extensive gardens. He was not supposed to be in the private gardens much less on the palace grounds, so he hurriedly ducked behind a tree, readying Mjölnir in case it was necessary. What he saw surprised him.

A young maid with thick blonde hair was sitting on the edge of a canal, her feminine body sprawled across the grass, her skin nearly white in contrast to the thick greenish-blue blades. Thor was slightly taken aback by her and her childish giggling as she dipped her dress into the water. She was surely no lady of the royal court with how she acted. She wasn't a servant either, judging by her clothing. Who was she then? And how did she get into the royal gardens?

Powder winged butterflies caught the fair maid's attention. With a childlike wonder, she gasped and went running after them like a toddler. How odd. She stopped when the butterfly flew too high for her reach before finding something else to captivate her attention. When she turned, Thor finally recognized her. She was the maid that followed Loki about the city when he saw him. Immediately, Thor felt the pull to speak to her. Should he give up his position?

"Many pardons, fair Lady," Thor said as he stepped out into the warm Asgardian sunlight, smiling as he would to any royal.

The girl stilled and looked at Thor as if she had done something wrong. She was like a timid animal needing to desperately be tamed. He held up a hand to show her he meant no harm to her. Her eyes were black and wary and vaguely familiar in some way. When he asked to speak with her though, she allowed it.

"Thee seems to have a calming effect on my brother, Loki," Thor said, stepping forward cautiously. He treated her like a wild mare needing taming. "I have not seen him so contented, and we...I have been trying to get him that way for years."

"Who thou?"

Thor seemed taken aback by how she spoke much like a child would. She was just a box of mysteries. He never knew Loki to keep such company. "I-I am Thor...Loki's brother?"

A light seemed to ignite behind those eyes.

"Thou knows of me?"

"Oki tell many things. I Sàga."

Sàga...that meant beautiful eyes. Well, they most definitely were haunting and dark. "Many fond greetings, Sàga. I really do wish thee no harm," he said, stepping up. "I only wish to talk."

She stared. "Talk?"

"Yes," Thor smiled gently. "Sit with me," he said as he lowered himself to the grass cautiously. He was taking quite a risk, and he hoped it would pay off.

"What are you doing in the gardens by thyself?"

"Oki busy. Need to be alone. I come every day...don't like servants. Follow to much."

Thor couldn't help but snort at her name for his brother. If anyone else had called him Oki, he would have them decapitated on the spot. "Is that so?" he inquired like a parent would an inquisitive toddler telling them about their days.

She nodded and lay back in the grass, staring at the sky.

"Can we talk again tomorrow, perhaps?" Thor asked. Perhaps he could get some information on the palace from her.

She thought. "Have lesson. Maybe," she pouted.

His lips twitched as he fought back a smirk.

"Lady Sàga! The King calls for thee. Lady Sàga?!"

The maiden sprung onto her feet and was off like the wind when she heard of Loki's involvement. It was as if Thor didn't even exist anymore. Thor waited until he was alone again to recline further into the shade. He missed the days he could visit with his mother there.

He fondly remembered when he and Loki played many trivial games together as well. But that's all they were...memories. Would he soon lose them as well? Thor shook himself from such thoughts and decided it was high time he tended to his own Lady.


	25. Chapter 25

The plan was set in stone many days prior to this one. As soon as Thor and Jane had been given shelter in an inn on the easternmost side of Asgard, their planning began. Sif and the Warriors had started recruiting those who remained loyal to Odin's house and those who simply despised the reign of Loki so far. They plotted deep in the night under the protective eye of Heimdall. They filtered through schemes and plans like filtering waters from a stream.

It wasn't until Thor began speaking with Sàga that he could actually begin to think up a plan. This plan was the one they would carry out tonight. After relieving the majority of the loyal guards of their posts for the evening, Thor and his men would storm the castle with little resistance. The servants would serve something heavy in the halls so as to make the court and the soldiers full and weary. Everything was going according to plan.

Thor and his loyal friends and followers were swift in their vengeance for the great King Odin AllFather. As Thor took lead and charged through the halls of the palace he called home, he was forced not to feel the emotional ties and bonds to the building he may soon have to demolish again. He had a mission to carry out first. He could be sentimental later. He was swift and silent despite his strength and size as he slunk through the ever growing shadows.

By the time he reached the inner palace halls, he was sure Sif had taken the time to prepare the warriors as he requested, ready to join him in his attack. He could see that Sif's group had indeed managed to take down the few remaining guards in the halls...impressively, there was no killing done. All of them were still alive, but they would feel their pains upon their waking. However, for the most part, their rebellion was silent and swift like a thief in the night.

The next and final stop would be left to Thor alone until he dealt with his brother. He was the only one minutely strong enough to challenge or even oppose Loki. His seidr was strong as was his will to remain in power.

When the doors to the throne room opened up, Loki was waiting for them. It seems they were not as quiet as they should have been. None of the scenarios in Thor's head really allowed for Loki to not be present though. He was prepared. He always tried to be prepared as boh his mother and father taught him to be. Loki was no different though. This should have felt good...like a victory. It didn't. To Thor's surprise, Loki snarled and charged at him first.

Usually he spoke before he challenged so he could speak his peace. He always felt it necessary to exchange words before a fight. The look on Loki's face explained everything. He looked enraged and insane. He looked at the edge of his sanity, dangling like he had been on the Bifrost. Thor had only seen that look a handful of times. He could count them on his hands, and he remembered them in great detail.

The trickster whirled himself in the air, flying towards Thor, hitting him straight in the back while he arched his hammer. Thor grunted as he toppled over, but rolled up onto his knees. He swung when Loki came to attack, but he would vanish and appear at unknown places to strike. Thor was growing winded as they continued. Even the lightning he channeled couldn't seem to hit with a finalizing blow. Soon he and Loki both were growing weaker. By the end, they were wrestling on the golden floor and pounding into each other's flesh, too weary to heave weapons or make spells.

"You will not take this from me! Not again!" Loki cried, jumping onto Thor's chest, who reacted quickly to call Mjölnir to himself.

He flung Loki away as a dagger pierced the meat of his shoulder. He hit him with Mjölnir and watched Loki sag in defeat on the golden floor. As Thor neared his brother, Loki lunged and got his finger's around Thor's throat. They once again began beating each other. Blood was flying, sweat was dripping, and they only had so much energy left to spare.

Thor, in a last effort to succeed, used all his strength to slam his hammer into the ground. Loki flew back and hit the throne with a resounding crack. Thor waited and suddenly heard a low groan echo from his throat. Thor shuffled forward in pain and shackled his brother in the memorable seidr-restricting manacles; he saw the raw hate gleaming in his eyes when Loki glanced up from under his hair. Bitter tears swam in his emerald eyes while streams burned his cheeks.

"I…hate thee," he growled like a demon.

"Tis for the best, Loki."

Loki lurched in a blind fit of rage, but he was restrained by two men from attacking Thor. "I shall never forgive thee this grievance, Thor Odinson," he roared like a maniac. "I swear it!"

"I do not need thy forgiveness, Loki," Thor said ominously, with the air of a king. But he wanted it…almost desperately. "I need only what thou hast stolen."

"Long live the King!"

Thor's friends and fellow fighters all rushed in with happy chants. It was an almost deafening roar now as they all danced and clapped. Outside, fireworks and heralding trumpets were being sounded. To the people, a King had come home. The fabled Son of Asgard had returned to Thor, however, the victory was not quite so sweet.

Loki was behind Thor, still being restrained. He was no longer trying to get away. Now he was looking around him in still shock. He looked to slowly be hyperventilating. His wild geen eyes searched the room frantically and flinched at each new decibel that was reached.

"Take him to the prisons."

"Thor!" Loki yelled as they dragged him back. "Please...don't hurt Sàga...the girl. She's innocent. Don't...make her suffer my fate. Thor! Norns, Thor! Listen to me!"

But by then Thor was already preoccupied.


	26. Chapter 26

The cage that held Sàga was in the entrails of Asgard. She only wore her thin morning dress that came down to her pale, bruised, knobby knees. The cell was small. No nest. No water. **No Loki.** Sàga spent most of her time sleeping because of the latter; she couldn't function without her Loki. When she dreamed, she dreamt of Loki...sometimes she dreamt of her pack, but she wanted to dream of her Loki. However, Sàga was pulled from her dreams by sounds that seemed odd. Voices. Words too. Loki...no. Three men stood in front of her cell before they used a something to get through the barrier.

"There she is. Our silver tongue's little princess…lost a little weight now, have thee?"

Sàga backed herself into the wall, trembling with fear. She eyed the men warily and let out a warning growl, not sure if they were good...or bad. They just stared, but then one pushed forward. An instinctive whimper escaped her throat as she backed herself into the wall as much as possible. These were definitely bad people like the one that tried to poison her.

"Aw, hast thou been lonely? Hast thou been crying yourself to sleep at night?" a man asked as he stepped forward. "By the Nine, she smells foul."

They laughed at her before one got on his knees and grabbed Sàga's ankles, pulling her towards him as he spread her legs. She was pulled forward by rough hands as the man fumbled with his trousers. Fear and panic rose in her. No! She was Loki's mate! They couldn't touch her there. She began yelping and whimpering, trying to squirm away.

"Oh, is our little princess scared? Don't worry love, thou shalt enjoy this."

The man freed his manhood, and a grin split his face. Again, he pulled Sàga forward, giving her a punch in the stomach for good measure. She yelped, afraid he hurt her baby. Then he pushed into her roughly, making her yelp and cry. He let out a satisfied groan as he pushed himself in, but Sàga wasn't prepared. It wasn't supposed to hurt anymore! Why did it hurt?! He kept slamming into her without pause, pressing Sàga further and further up against the wall at an odd angle, her shoulders rubbing against the floor. His comrades cheered him on from behind, one already rubbing himself.

Harder and harder Sàga was hurt, taken to new heights of pain, the pounding increasing and seemingly never-ending. Finally her tormentor let out a long groan, pushed in once more and collapsed on her belly. Her back was hurting from the baby laying on her spine. Was it okay? Sàga heard another of the men pull the man on top off her off. Was he going to help her? Oh…he was replacing him.

They took her several turns, and by the time one was finished, another started...and they told their friends. They visited in groups. At one point, Sàga stopped caring. She stopped fighting and struggling and just cried and yelped when they came in. She stopped counting at some point. No one washed her, but they brought rags to clean her before they used her. She felt dirty. Loki would never want her now…not when she couldn't stop them.

One day she saw a familiar face of a soldier that Thor was with a lot. Loki called him F-Fandal? When she saw him, she pleaded and whined and reached for him. Fandal stared at her for a moment, before he lowered his eyes, turning to leave her alone. **He left her.**

And then the cramping started.

Sàga thought it was from the constant getting hurt and abuse. She began to feel a tightening around her stomach, a mounting pain growing in her back too, like the baby was kicking. Sàga began to worry for her baby in her slightly swollen belly. Was it hurting too? Hoping for help, Sàga began to wail and bark for someone. But no one came. The waves of pain gnawed into her flesh and tissues all the way to her spine, doubling her over on the ground. She was in pain for hours and hours. All she could do is start to push. The pain made her yelps and screams echo in the halls.

She could feel the small being slide down into her womanhood, stretching it, and she kept pushing and pushing until she could feel her insides rip. She could feel the little being leaving her body. Then she was empty. It isn't whimpering like the pups did in her pack...it wasn't breathing either. Sàga felt her heart break; she threw her head back and howled, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. She took off her gown and wrapped her pup in it, holding it close. She really was alone now.

{hr}

A single man came into her cage, carrying a bucket in his hand. Then, sloshing water on the floor as he walked, he came closer despite her growls. It was that Fandal man. He stood, uncertain, just staring at Sàga as she cradled her pup. She wanted so desperately for her pup to be in her body again…to be alive. She wasn't alone then.

"Maiden?"

Carefully, the blond man approached, as someone would a startled animal. Sàga's eyes narrowed as he knelt down. He got on his knees in front of her, putting down the bucket, some soapy water spilling to the ground. Water. Soap. What was soap again?

"Malady, I," he paused. "We have never met. I am Fandral. I am here to wash thee."

The water was warm.

Sàga let out a groan when it touched her cracking, bruised skin. He started with her face, carefully working around her eyes and mouth. He pushed her hair back, continuing to her neck and an ear, thoroughly washing even behind them, making sure no area was untouched by the sponge. By the time the washing was over, Sàga was in a calm and relaxed state, and the warmth of the water and the softness of the towel coaxed her into sleep.

Fandral tried to take the baby from her hands. Sàga snarled and woke, curling her baby into her chest. She wouldn't let him touch her baby; she wouldn't let him even look at it. Fandral came by regularly after that, washing Sàga, rubbing salve on her, giving her herbs, combing her hair, and kneading oils into her muscles. Every day he would ask to see Sàga's pup, but each time he reached she would growl, tucking her baby close to her chest and snapping at him.

And then he hurt her down there like the others did.

He wasn't like Loki at all. The feeding and bathing did not change his hurting of Sàga; on the contrary, it seemed to increase it. He was gentle, but Sàga still didn't want him to touch her. She only wanted Loki. Loki was her mate...just Loki. Then, one day, Fandral came as two men took their turns hurting Sàga. He was waiting patiently in the back of the room with lust in his eyes. Sàga couldn't trust tan ones. Tan ones...they were bad.

Once they were alone, Fandral drew a set of jingling things from his trousers, fumbling nervously. Sàga watched the jingling things cautiously, and she didn't notice him take her baby out of her arms until he put the jingling things in her lap. He took her pup! Sàga snarled as she lunged and took hold of Fandral. He caught her, and she bit into his neck with her sharp teeth, ripping chunks out wherever she could.

_Kill! Kill! He took her pup! He took her Loki! Kill!_

Fandral's vitality started to slowly stream from his body in floods. Sàga felt him fall, and she began ripping off his second fur. Pack instinct kicked in when she saw the meat and flesh underneath, and she began to feed on his dead body. Sàga consumed it all. It had been so long since she'd eaten fresh raw meat.

She ran back to her pup when she was done and ran her finger gingerly over its ears and nose to make sure it wansn't hurt. It looked like Loki, but it...it was dead. It wasn't with her anymore. Sàga began to howl and weep again over her baby. She always wept. She would never see her Loki again. If she ever escaped, she would kill everyone.

She would kill them all.


	27. Chapter 27

Loki kept a flat, emotionless face when he was presented to his former brother and friend like a gift at a coronation. Thor was the new King of Asgard now. No one challenged him even though he gave up his birthright as was expected when he took a mortal as his consort. Oh, and there sat that petulant little mortal now, Jane of Midgard. He wanted to let Thor squirm and burn under his gaze, but Thor was strong unlike he was before. Jane, however, looked quite uncomfortable under his dark gaze. He fed off of that fear like the bastard monster he was as he was pulled to a stop.

"Why havest thou brought me here, Golden King?" he snarled darkly. "Dost thou seek to rub salt in my wounds?"

"We are here to witness thy trial, brother. Now, what didst thou do to our father a-"

"Your father," he enunciated. "Is a rotting corpse in the wilds of Asgard—the one place he actually tried to protect."

"Brother-"

"I am not thine brother!"

"Thou art!" Thor roared.

Loki scowled. "Where is Sàga? The girl that was always near me. What has thou done with her?"

Thor frowned. "I have nary seen her. I suspected thee to have hidden her away in some remote cavern in the wilds."

Loki clenched his teeth. "Thou thinks so little of me?"

"Do not patronize me, brother. I am in no mood for thine tricks."

"Where is she?!" Loki roared, his veins bulging. Thor was hiding her away. Norns, what if he killed her or sent her back to Jotunheim? "I swear on mother's soul that if thou hast harmed her, I shalt destroy all of Asgard. The frost giants will invade, your land will burning with seidr flames, not to be extinguished by water," he hissed as a green seidr film began to coat him and then vanish into the seidr absorbing shackles on his neck and wrists. "And I shall free thine precious mortal of her skin and burn her alive! Then, Thor, only then shall I kill thee as well."

The room was silent, and Thor was shocked at Loki's outburst. The pathetic wench looked nearly ready to run to the Bifrost and back to her precious mud ball, and every guard was on high alert. It was only after several moments that Thor cleared his throat to speak again. "She has changed thee, brother. I believe it is truly for the best. Realize that when I offer this, I offer it to thee because of thine woman and how she has changed thee so. I recall a time not too long ago in which thou would have turned on everyone thou knew, but not now."

Loki scowled. He did not like being read like a book. "And what could thee offer one such as I, great Odinson?"

"I hath decided upon a truce between us," he held up a hand before Loki could snap at him in irritation and incredulity. "Thou may decide when I hath finished upon thine decision. Now, as thou knows, many millennia ago Asgard was under oligarchical rule. That changed only because of our ancestors being only children. I propose...we return to the tradition of the oligarchy."

Loki, for all intents and purposes, was quite stunned. Thor was willing to...to share the throne of Asgard...with him? With a Frost Giant bastard? Surely this was some cruel joke.

"I recall when mother said we worked together better as a unit than as separate beings. Despite the cruelties said of thee, thou hast run Asgard with valor, dignity and pride. I could think of no one else to refresh this tradition with than with thee, brother. If thou should accept, thee and thy woman will be cleared in name and in crime. Thou may remain in the palace, and thou shalt keep thine title as a King of Asgard."

Loki frowned. "And if I refuse?"

"I'm sure fifty-thousand years in the prisons will do thee both well. I do not want to punish thee so, Loki, and she should not perish equally for thine sin."

Loki clenched his jaw. He had to find Sàga, and Thor had given him an ultimatum. His good half told him to do it; this could be his chance to stand in the spotlight with Thor. His dark half was surprisingly silent. Was this truly as good as it sounded? "I really have no choice, do I?"

"See it in whatever light thou must, but my offer still stands strong."

"The people will object."

"The people can object all they like. They are not the ones that make choices. They do not sit on this throne."

There were several moments of quite tense silence. Loki needed to get to Sàga, but she was apparently missing. She could be anywhere. He could still be the King, but it would be a shared title. His mother wished this sort of thing from him...and that is what would forever guide him in his choices. She and Sàga were like two great beacons on a starless night. There really was no choice in this matter. He knew that.

"I accept thine truce, Odinso-"

"Thor!" Sif yelled, barging in.

Loki glared her, as she dashed in in her scuffed armor, the crimson fabric of her skirt was stained dark with coagulated blood; her eyes were bright and terrified. Her voice was worn as if from sobbing. What had she been doing to have shed so much blood? It was not her own obviously. If it had been, she would look much worse or even better...she would be dead.

"What is it, Sif? What causes this fear in thine eyes?"

"I-It's Fandral."

"Ah, so where has he been hiding these past five days? Was he in a brothel?"

Loki could tell even Thor didn't believe what he was saying. He knew as well as Loki that something was very wrong.

"He's...he's dead."

There was thick, deadly silence in the throne room. Thor suddenly did look so Golden anymore. He looked more like a rusted bronze to Loki. Inside, Loki was rejoicing and dancing and celebrating. That little bastard got what he deserved for being a traitor. He was lucky Loki didn't get to him first. Loki couldn't help the smug grin on his face.

"W-What? How?"

"He was murdered," she said throatily. "By that demon woman Loki brought back with him from Jotunheim. She...she has eaten much of him."

Loki froze in both shock and fear.

He was shocked that Sàga had done something so very savage and brutal. What had happened to her over their past month of separation? Had she reverted back to her wild ways without him to assist her? It was very possible. And what of their child? However, he also now feared for her life. Thor's wrath was a force to be reckoned with, and Fandral had been one of his greatest friends. He and the rest of the warriors would likely thirst for vengeance.

Thor looked like the harbinger of death himself. Loki could practically feel the electricity in the air. "I will have her executed. Guards-"

"Nay!" Loki boomed, shoving his way out of the guards' arms. "Thou wilt not harm or touch my woman. Does the Golden King not remember? I accepted the truce. We have been exonerated. Thou cannot harm her."

Thor frowned. "Sif, how long hath he been in Valhalla?"

"At least two days."

Loki grinned. He had won again, and there was nothing Thor could do about it. Thor could not harm her or his child.

"Then Loki is right. We cannot seek justice," Thor said, slouching bitterly. "I still wish to hear what she has to say."

"As do I," he said, holding out his shackled arms. "Now release me so I may embrace my woman as is proper."


	28. Chapter 28

Loki could not escape the throne room fast enough. Still in his prison clothes looking ragged and weary, he dashed back into the depths of Asgard. He searched for many tiring moments before a guard was passing him to relieve himself of his duties. Loki grabbed him before he could escape him any faster than he was already trying. He could hear the jingling of either a belt or of keys. Thor, sadly, wasn't too far behind him.

"Where is Sàga? Where?!" he snarled urgently and followed as he was swiftly lead into the pits of Asgard.

When Loki first saw Sàga, the first thing he felt was grief; the second was empathy. She was curled up in a corner, covered in old and new cuts and bruises. Loki thought he saw burns as well. Fandral—or rather, chunks of Fandral—were left there to rot all across the floors. Her body was trembling and naked, covered in crusted blood. What had they done to his goddess? To his beloved? He could see her holding something in her arms. Did she give birth? The infant could not have survived if she had done so. He saw it. Sàga held a tiny unmoving infant in her arms...his son.

_He was dead._

Loki howled bitterly, punching fists into the walls. Why was everything always taken away from him?! Why were he and the ones he loved always getting hurt?! He watched as Sàga cradled the baby in her arms, rocking back and forth. How long...how long had she been left with their dead infant? She looked so blank and haunted...so traumatized. Nothing seemed to exist for her anymore. Not even him.

He half expected Thor to be gone, but he still stood there. Now he had compassion in his eyes where there was once cold anger and wrath. "I see now there must be...a reason she killed Fandral. Perhaps...this drove her to madness."

Loki only stared.

He did not react at all to Thor, not even when Thor embraced him before leaving him with her. When Loki entered, he did so with determination to bring his Sàga...his beloved Sàga...back. She growled as soon as he stepped in, bearing her bloody teeth at him. There was no recognition in her eyes. He strode confidently across the cell. "Sàga," he cooed, and his beloved turned, eyes narrowing on him. "Sàga, it is me...thine Oki."

Loki raised a hand.

Sàga, still holding their dead infant, crawled forward on all fours. She sniffed his hand before a small glimmer of a spark lit behind her eyes. She licked his fingers before taking his hand in hers as if she had never done so before. Had she reverted so far in so little time without him? Loki knelt down and petted her head before looking at their child tucked against her breast. It was indeed a son. He looked so much like Sàga, and it brought tears to Loki's eyes.

"Is that...our child?" he asked, trying to maintain control of his voice.

Sàga looked at him and then the baby. She actually offered it to him. Loki let out a shaky breath as he took their small, dead son into his hands. He stood slowly and tucked the white, tattered gown closer around the tiny body. Then he did something he knew he had to do. Loki used his seidr to restrain Sàga. He transported them to their chambers and left her on the bed while he laid his son in his crib Loki had found for him.

Sàga was writhing and snarling and screaming.

Loki knelt beside her on the bed. "Be still, Sàga. Be calm."

She snarled wordlessly at him in response and bucked in the seidr's grip.

She managed to twist enough to sink her teeth into the meat of Loki's hand. Loki cursed, and she was flexible enough to catch him on the jaw with her foot before he backed away. Loki rubbed at his mouth sadly. He deserved every bit of this for what he was doing to her. He had no choice in it though. He used seidr to chain her legs. Once he was done, Sàga pulled and screamed and jerked against the restraints.

"Sàga," he called. "Please, thou must be calm."

But she was too far gone, and barely seemed to hear him. When Loki reached out to lay a hand on her stomach, he found she was burning up. She likely was unwell after such mistreatment. As soon as he touched her, her screeches turned to whimpers.

"I am here," he said softly, running his hand over Sàga's skin. "Thou art safe. Tis alright."

Sàga whined at his touch. Her body undulated as best it could within the tethers, chains clanking as she tried to kick out her legs. Loki ran his hand over her mouth and was surprised when she did not attempt to bite him. Perhaps she was slowly coming back to him. Slowly.

"That's better," he purred, sliding his palm across her hips and over her thighs. "Thou art being so good, beloved," he murmured, keeping his hands moving over her skin, hoping his voice would help keep Sàga calm. "I am here. I love thee."

His hand dipped between her legs, his fingers skimming lightly over her slit. Sàga whimpered and jerked back. He waited for her to calm patiently. When she realized Loki meant her no harm, she seemed to settle back down.

"Good girl, Sàga. Thou art doing well."

Loki cautiously sought her clit and began to stroke gingerly. Sàga shook under him, her garbled cries rising in pitch as he stroked faster. When Sàga came, she slumped, her breath rasping as she struggled to inhale and cry softly at the same time. She seemed more relaxed now though. He was getting through to her. He nearly rejoiced aloud.

"Sàga?" he asked.

He was met with a blank stare.

Slowly, Loki leaned forward, watchful of Sàga's teeth. Though her glazed eyes tracked the movement, she made no move to bite or butt at him. Loki cautiously kissed her lower lip. Sàga only licked her lip and keened. She seemed less dangerous now, but Loki couldn't take any chances. Loki brought forth an entire chest full of oils and salves from their bath. He chose one of the fuller bottles and brought forth a pitcher of water.

"Sàga, here," Loki purred, bringing the pitcher forward. "Sàga, thou needs to drink."

Sàga would not. Instead she began tossing her head back and forth and snarling when Loki tried to make her swallow.

Loki sighed, sitting the pitcher aside before cleaning her up.

Preparations made, Loki carefully knelt between Sága's legs, undoing the seidr carefully. He grasped her ass and raised her up gently, so she was resting at an angle on his thighs. He coated his fingers in the oil and rubbed his thumb over her slit. He would not hurt her; he would be gentle and patient. Sàga actually pushed back into his touch. It was fantastic progress. Loki rewarded him by pushing his forefinger slowly into her. She was tense and tight, but she moaned softly. He opened Sàga as slowly and gently as he could, well aware of how she whined with every finger he added.

Loki purred into her ear and slowly began to finger her, pumping his fingers slowly as he poured more oil onto his fingers, stroking the sweet spot inside her. When he felt she was ready, he removed his fingers and hastily stripped with seidr, smearing oil over his throbbing cock. He didn't want her to cry or be hurt any more than she obviously has been by others. She exhaled raggedly as he pushed in slowly. He curved over Sàga's arched chest, shuffling his knees forward and forcing her to bend just a little more so he could press a gentle kiss to her forehead.

"Norns," he groaned as he stroked her hair and settled. This time, tears did spill forth from his eyes. "I've missed thee. I've missed thee so much."

Sàga gave a soft grunt at the sound of his voice, and so Loki kept telling her sweet nothings until she relaxed enough that he could move properly. When she was calm, he pulled back just enough that he could thrust forward, loving the familiar drag of his cock in Sàga's channel. Sàga moaned, and Loki took this for encouragement to carry on. He began to increase his speed, and Sàga yelped and moaned, hands clawing at his chest.

Loki would wait for her despite his own orgasm licking along his spine, coiling and shuddering along his body. Sàga whined helplessly as she came around him with a cry, slumping onto the bed. Loki came soon after, and immediately pulled out to check Sàga over. She was sweating and panting, but she didn't appear to be in any particular distress. In fact, she looked extremely calm. Loki removed all of the seidr restraints, rubbing her fragile ankles and wrists with oils as he did so. He removed the rest of the restraints as well, guiding Sága into a more comfortable position. He quickly fetched the pitcher of water and helped Sàga drink. She gulped at the water, spilling as much over her as she swallowed.

She stared at Loki with a glimmer of recognition.

The pitcher crashed and shattered across the floor as Sàga crawled towards Loki. She seemed determined to be close to Loki, and she sobbed as she struggled into his lap. Loki welcomed her, spreading his arms wide to embrace her close to his chest. He tried to kiss her, but she didn't seem to be interested in his affection as she pushed her face into the crook of his neck sobbing. He held her all the same.

"Mmm," she huffed as she ground herself against Loki. "Mmmuh!"

Loki moaned and guided her once again onto his cock, feeling her body shake as she was breached again, gently.

"Sàga," Loki breathed.

He was close, and there was both familiarity and desperation in Sàga's eyes.

"More," she slurred. "Moore, Oki. More," she sobbed into Loki's shoulder.

"Be still," Loki cooed. "I have thee," he said as he tilted forward, laying Sàga down, placing her hands around his neck, moving slowly as he repositioned them so as to not spook her into relapsing.

"O-Oki," Sàga groaned. "Uv...wuv…love-"

"I know, I know," he chortled, unable to repress a smile as he pushed in deeper. "I love thee too," he said as he pulled back, drawing his cock from her until only the tip remained. "Thou doth not have to tell me."

"Uh," Sàga whined.

He pushed back in with a grunt, and Sàga moaned as she was filled again.

"Oki, more!"

Loki grabbed her by the hips as she writhed beneath him.

"Oki. Oki. Oki!" she sobbed as she came.

Loki sighed and bent to kiss her forehead. She was limp and worn out beneath him, so he withdrew. He remained over her, sheltering her from the outside world. "There's my Sàga," he purred. "Oh, I've missed thee so," he said as he rolled over so she was draped over him.

"Miss too, Oki."


	29. Chapter 29

Sàga woke in an unfamiliar place, but it didn't feel hostile. She looked up and saw little orange dots making another her just above her. She moved and giggled as her reflection moved with her. When she reached up to touch, it felt like a light hum against her skin. When she felt something touch her, she yelped and tried to jerk away. The bad men were back. They were back, and they were going to hurt her. She struggled despite the intense nausea and the pain in her abdomen. She couldn't go back there…not again.

"Sàga! Sàga!" The hands moved to catch her face. It was Loki. "Shhh, be at peace, Sàga. Thou art safe."

Loki slowly lifted Sàga into his arms as he spoke to some woman she couldn't see. She was a make-feel-better like the one in the camp. Before she could think, she was being deposited into warm water. It was hotter than in the springs, and it didn't smell weird like they did either. The amount of blood in the water was startling. Sàga watched in morbid fascination as the blood made the water pink. She struggled as the woman tried to wash her with tingly mint herbs, but Loki held her still.

When they were done, they put her in a nightdress and tried to get her to walk. Her knees gave way almost as soon as they stopped supporting her, and she fell. Loki rushed to catch her before she hit the floor, and he carried her over to the hard nest she was on when she first woke.

"How doth she fare, Eir?" he asked, brushing her hair off of her face.

"There remains some infant tissue in her womb," she said, looking at the orange Sàga and poking it. Sàga felt nothing though. "She is at risk for grievous infection. The herb we injected should have expelled the rest of the material."

She walked off, leaving Loki and Sàga alone with him hovering over her. Tears started to pool in her eyes. "Baby gone. Why?"

Loki sighed. "My dearest, the constant rape caused infection. The child could not survive."

"Sàga...kill baby?"

"No," Loki snapped. "No...don't ever think that it was thine fault. This is the fault of those bastards that hurt thee. If thee could just remember...if Heimdall had been doing his duties..."

Sàga flinched at the memory and reached for Loki's hand. He willingly gave it. She didn't want to feel alone. She wanted to stop thinking about those men that hurt her. Every time she closed her eyes they were there. Every time she heard a noise, it was them about to spring a trap on her. A sudden sharp pain struck her in the abdomen, and she yelped. She was beginning to bleed again.

"Eir!"

"By Odin's beard!" the make-feel-better gasped. "Sedate her. I must go in surgically."

Sàga saw her getting out supplies and washing her hands. Loki suddenly waved his hand over her forehead, and green sand sprinkled across her vision with bright seidr. Everything was starting to get blurry and unfocused. She needed to sleep, and she needed to do so now. Whimpering, Sàga tried to keep her grip on Loki, but her hold was so weak. She didn't want to be alone. Not again.

* * *

Sàga could very distinctly hear creatures discussing her. She tried to force her eyes open, but she could not. Trapped within her own body, Sàga tried not to panic and worry about the bad men. No such luck was afforded to her though. She could see them coming for her with those disgusting hands. She calmed when she heard Loki's voice. Nothing would happen to her if he was there to protect her from the bad ones.

"Do the healers think she shall be able to conceive again?" That sounded like Thor.

"She is fine."

"But?"

"What doth thee care?" Loki snapped.

"I am thine brother and future fellow King. Thou must learn to talk to me."

Loki huffed. "I worry that she shall bare a half Jotun mongrel. I wish not for my offspring to face ridicule."

There was a long pause. "I think a half-Jotun infant would be truly adorable. It would receive no less love in these walls."

"And what of her supposed crime against Fandral?"

Sàga's eyes opened then and she whimpered at the memory of aforementioned man. He had been so nice, but then he hurt her. She thought he would be like Loki, but he wasn't. Why would he hurt her? He tried to take her pup from her. Tears welled in her eyes as she searched the room for Loki. He was near her immediately. He sat on the hard nest and ran his hand over her belly and arms. It felt nice.

"Oki, w-where baby?"

His eyes saddened. "There was a private funeral for Vali, our son."

"Wah fooneral?"

"It's a ceremony to honor...honor the dead, and to allow them passage into the next life. He is well loved where he is now."

Thor came over to her other side and smiled at her warmly. She smiled back and waved at him with the hand that wasn't clinging to Loki for dear life. He chuckled and waved back at her. Loki put a cool hand against her cheek to gain her attention again.

"Sàga, wilt thou tell us of what happened to you in the prison?"

Sàga shrunk back.

"Tis for thine safety," he assured.

Sàga nodded then and took hold of him with both hands. "Men f-find out I no talk so good and come. They have key. Come in and...hurt bad. Make bleed and make sore. Sàga forget how talk, more come. Never clean...never ever. Sàga start hurt...baby leave Sàga," she said in a whisper. She was beginning to whimper and keen.

"What of Fandral?" Thor asked.

"Silence, impatient brute!"

"I simply asked her a question!" he snapped back.

"Let her take her time."

"I do not have time. I must run a realm if thee has not noticed."

Loki was about to say something, but Sàga spoke first. "F-Fandal come watch. Then, he wash and be nice. Then he hurt Sàga...like others. Tried to stop. No stop. Fandal bring watch others more then he try take baby. Sàga not let bad hands touch baby. I kill."

Loki glared at the wall. "I'll kill every last one of those men who touched her. Then I'm going to Hel to re-kill them."

"Loki, do not be irrational. I-"

"If it were thine precious mortal, they would already be smoldering piles of ash!" he roared.

Sàga jumped, and Loki took notice. He knelt beside her head and began kissing up and down her face. In her ear, he kept whispering about how very sorry he was. She looked at him and saw water in his eyes. She took his hand in her own.

"I was about to say, we should hold a trial and investigation."

"Taking the life of an unborn is against Asgardian law."

"We cannot charge them of that."

"I would," he snapped, still running a calming hand over Sàga's head and jawline. "What of Sàga?"

"Pardoned."

"And Heimdall?"

"A fitting punishment for Heimdall must be discussed."

There was reverent quiet for a long time with Loki fawning over Sàga as she slowly slipped in and out of consciousness. Loki was trying to get her to rest as Eir suggested she do while she recovered. Sàga, however, didn't want to go to sleep because those men would be waiting in her dreams to hurt her. Loki wasn't in her dreams to save her, and her baby was gone. She didn't want to sleep...didn't want to be alone to face them.

"Lady Sàga," Thor said softly. "I am truly sorry for what was done unto thee. All this time thou has been suffering through the actions of someone I called friend. Someone who talked with me, drank with me and fought side-by-side with me whilst thou were struggling."

Sàga reached out and touched his elbow. "It okay. Not thee fault."

Loki sighed. "Sàga. Thou should rest," he said, preparing his magic.

"Na! Na sleep! Men waiting in head. Hurt Sàga!"

Loki tensed. "What if I make sure there are no men?"

"Oki do that?"

"Yes."

"Then I sleep."


	30. Chapter 30

Jane was in total awe. The resplendent throne room of Asgard was absolutely colossal. The ceiling was like a vibrant golden sky, and the shining columns were like some freshly-ripened fruit from a golden tree. Jane felt so tiny on Midgard, but here she felt microscopic. The room was filled with chattering people except for a wide empty aisle that ran down the center, stretching from the magnificent double doorway and slicing a broad red ribbon through the otherwise overflowing room like a river in a meadow.

Jane felt nerves bubbling up within her as she snuck back out into the hall where she stood by herself, twisting the fabric of her gown between her sweaty palms. The roaring of the people soon gave way to an undercurrent of murmuring at some signal. The coronation was about to begin. Her coronation. Well, hers, Loki's and Loki's girlfriend.

Only then did Loki come around a corner with a girl on his arm. That had to be Sàga, the one Thor had told her about. Loki acted so different when he was with Sàga. He acted caring and sweet and kind, but around others he was cold and stoic just like Jane remembered. He still had that beguiling smirk plastered into his sorry face. Jane wanted to smack him. He was so selfish, leaving Thor thinking Loki was dead. There were many nights when Thor woke screaming because of Loki.

For a feral child, Sàga looked quite well schooled. Only by the animalistic look in her eyes could anyone tell she could have been raised wild and alone. Jane had taken a psych course in college, and they did a study on the feral children around the world. This girl was nothing like that. Perhaps Asgardians could learn better than Midgardians could. It wouldn't surprise Jane in the least. Maybe later she could pick Sága's brain. It would be quite a leap in the feral child studies.

The massive doors heaved open slowly, as if to let out the surplus of thrumming anticipation and energy. Then Loki and Sàga strolled out into the throne room, and they were met with silence and mocking whispers. She suddenly felt some sympathy for the royal couple. Jane walked out in a red Asgardian dress, and she was automatically greeted with cheers. The very floors seemed to tremor with the ovation. The surrounding masses continued cheering and applauding wildly while Jane waved meekly. Loki and Sàga, however, walked wordlessly with grace, looking forward at Thor who stood at the throne.

The end of the path gave way to the short staircase that ascended to the throne. Following deep-rooted Asgardian customs, Loki knelt and presented a weapon. Sàga automatically knelt as well—albeit rather clumsily. Jane then noticed everyone was staring at her. Wait, was she supposed to do something?! She knew she should have listened to Thor. She followed Sàga's lead, and the hall let out a nearly audible sigh.

At the same time, everyone fell quiet.

Thor began the ceremony, his imperial voice resounding. Man he looked good in that uniform with Mjölnir hooked to his hip. She would have to jump those bones later. "Loki Friggajarson. My brother. My ally," he said before looking to her and smiling softly. "Loki of Asgard, thou hast knelt as a Prince. Arise now, my brother," he said as he put an arm on his shoulder. "As a King."

Loki stood before turning to the crowds. "Out of the Great Sea to Asgard I am come. In this place shalt I ever abide, and my heirs, unto the ending of this world."

He took his place standing next to Thor. Thor then stepped down and offered Jane a sword with a ring tied to the hilt. Jane took it and a servant girl gave her a ring to give to Thor. Wait, they were putting them on. Was this...was this a wedding?! Thor hadn't even proposed to her yet. Then again, Jane always sort of knew they would get hitched. Darcy asked about weddings every time she called; she was going to be so pissed.

"My Jane, thou art the star of each night, the brightness of every morning, the kernel of my heart, the face of my sun and the crown of my company," he said after they put on their rings.

"By my power," Loki stated. "I pronounce thee in eternal matrimony."

Jane leaned up, expecting a kiss, but instead she was lead up the stairs to stand with Thor as Loki stood before Sàga. So they were doing a group wedding? That made it a bit less special, but when in Rome. Was anyone else going to jump on the band wagon? She watched as Loki and Sàga exchanged actual weapons before placing both pairs of their hands on Loki's weapon.

Weird. Jane and Thor didn't do that.

"I take thee, my heart at the rising of the moon and setting of the stars. To love and to honor through all that has and may come. Through all our lives together and in all our lives, may we be reborn. That we may meet and know and love again."

"By my power," Thor boomed. He was beaming. Jane hadn't seen him happier since he came to Earth to stay with her. "I dub thee united in marriage."

After that, Loki led Sàga up the stairs. Now both couples stood before the masses, and suddenly Jane remembered how nervous she was. Thor gave her a wink and a reassuring squeeze as the masses began to cheer and applaud. This time, it was louder than earlier if that was even possible.

"Now we feast!"


	31. Chapter 31

"Thou hast done what?!" Loki snarled, standing from his desk where he was doing the business of the realm. Thor never really was one for paper and desk work…or the indoors.

"I have pardoned Lady Sif and the Warriors Three of thine ridiculous acusations."

"They betrayed the crown. They betrayed me; I was and still am their King. If thine precious Odin had been done the same villainy, he would have had them executed."

"A crown thee stole in the first place, and do not bring our father into this."

"Twas not stealing. I simply murdered Odin for the crown. I conquered Asgard and the fools never noticed!"

"Then I have reclaimed it," Thor boomed darkly at the mention of Odin again.

Ever since returning, Thor had constantly questioned Loki on Odin's whereabouts. Only after he lifted his cloaking spell could Heimdall find it and Thor retrieve it in the wilds. Apparently the animals cared not if Odin was AllFather, for many parts of him were devoured and decayed. He deserved every bit of it. The cause of death, however, was obvious: decapitation. It was a death worthy of a criminal, and it was a fate Odin had wished for Loki as well had Frigga not stepped in. Loki had always been one step ahead though.

"I too am King, Thor. Thou cannot simply void my charges."

"They shall be punished, Loki. Be at peace."

"Oh," Loki snapped critically. "How so? A slap on the wrist? A pat on the back?!"

"Tis why I have come to see thee."

"Death."

"Nay, Loki," Thor snapped. "No killing. This is a time of peace."

"For now."

"Loki-"

"Lower their ranks."

Thor paused for a moment, mulling it over in that thick head of his. "Tis reasonable, I'll admit."

Loki was a little shocked. Perhaps his brother actually was taking this seriously. "And revoke their Bifrost use to our orders only."

"Very well," Thor said raggedly. He seemed as tired as Loki. "Anything else?"

"I would say hacking off their limbs, but I already know thine answer."

Thor chortled. "How doth the Lady Sàga fare nowadays? I still do not see either of thee joining Jane and I for dinner."

"She is still recovering," Loki sighed. "Eir hath said she can still bear children, but I could not bear the thought of losing another."

"Thou wilt not lose another babe, brother. Talk with Sàga."

"Nay."

"Jane wishes to speak with the Lady Sàga. Apparently her kind is rare. On Midgard, only a eldom few children are raised wild."

Loki frowned then, recalling something. "Doth thee remember when thee took her from her mother? What was she like as a babe?"

Thor suddenly clammed up. "Now is not the-"

"Unless thou would rather speak of this in her presence, I suggest thou should speak freely now."

Thor sighed. "Tis something I shall never forget. Twas just after thine funeral feast and funeral ceremony, and Odin made me hold the mother at bay as he carted her off. She screamed and cried and begged, but there was nothing I could do to assist her. Sàga was...she was very tiny for someone her age. I do remember the look of fear in those eyes at the sight of a Frost Giant. Why doth thee ask such things now?"

"I have decided to tell Sàga of her origins. Tis time she knew the truth. I made a mistake by withholding the truth from her."

"Brother-"

"Do not give me thine sympathies," Loki said as he headed for the door to his private quarters. "I suggest thee leave before we begin. I may need to comfort her, and we can get noisy," he said with a smirk.

He hadn't seen Thor leave so quickly since they were in their youth.


	32. Chapter 32

"Oki," Sága said from her spot in their nest with a book in her lap. "Teach magic."

Loki sighed and turned in his chair. "Magic is not a toy. Tis very deadly. It has a personality, and it can feel. Tis an extension of thyself. Magic is in everything. Thou has to find it within thyself and learn to understand it before thou can attempt to control it," Loki said.

"Want learn cloak."

"My cloaking spell?" he asked suspiciously. "Why?"

Sàga smiled. "Want learn. Use to keep safe."

In truth, Sàga had a much more sinister plot in mind. She had every intention of sneaking about and using it to her advantage. She learned how to hunt from her pack, and rule number one was to have a good place to hide. Having Loki's spell would make her hunt much easier. Then she could devour and destroy those bad men without being noticed.

Loki huffed and strolled over to sit with her on their nest. "Close thine eyes and search thyself for thy magic."

Loki saw Sàga close her eyes and scrunch her face in determination. Her body was slowly gaining a faint white glow around it that flickered every once in a while. It was common for beginners. Loki was shocked judging by all the quiet cursing. It took most mages almost a month to achieve what Sàga had in five measly minutes. To find that kind of magic without guidance was truly an honorable feat worth mentioning.

"Well done, beloved. I am truly impressed with thy natural skill," he said, startling Sàga into losing focus.

Sàga beamed at him. She scooted closer and laid her head on his shoulder. She felt the need to be close to him since he told her about where she really came from. Her entire life had been a lie except for Loki and her baby. She was very clingy.

"Now, imagine thy magic as a fur, and cover thine entire body."

Sàga nodded and squeezed her eyes shut again.

Without much preamble, she was shrouded in white film before vanishing completely. Loki laughed and clapped, making her lose focus. He wrapped her in his arms and spun her victoriously through the air and danced with her across the rug. Sàga grinned when he did and clung tightly to him as he praised her and showered her with love. She had no time to react before she was pressed into the mattress.

Her chest was heaving up and down, eyes wide and dilated. Her breathing hitched when she felt Loki's familiar hands on her, pulling her dress from her body. He hoisted her hips up, and she then realized he too was completely nude. Then for some reason, Sàga saw the bad men instead of Loki though. She sucked in a breath and screamed, kicking and flailing and sobbing. She was pinned down and she started to scream for Loki.

However, the bad man on top of her became a half-dressed Loki almost instantly. Startled by her crying, Loki had conjured his trousers and conjured her gown, and he held her tightly to his chest as she wept savagely. What was happening to her?!

"Easy, Sága. Easy," he whispered softly, pulling her into his lap and kissing her forehead. "What happened?" he asked when she calmed down.

"S-Saw bad men. They going to hurt me," she whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut and grabbing fistfuls of Loki's hair. "But mind trick me."

Loki tilted her head up and kissed her. "I'm with thee, and thou art with me. I shalt never leave thee again," he said, caressing her face gently with long fingers.

Sága nodded softly. "I never leave thee neither."

Loki sighed and lay down with her still in his arms.

"We sleep?"

"Doth thee wish to?"

She nodded as she laid her head on his chest, listening to his heart.

"Then we shalt rest."


	33. Chapter 33

Loki had been weary of work over the past few days, so both he and Sàga retired early in the evening after having dinner in their rooms. They spoke in soft tones as they curled up in amongst the furs as one of them slowly dozed off. The one who fell asleep first was usually Sàga, but this time it was Loki who dozed off first.

But Sàga wasn't going to sleep anytime soon. Nay, she would seek her revenge first.

Once Loki was sound asleep, Sága used the opportunity to sneak out into the quiet halls of Asgard's palace. Only she and the insects seemed to be awake. The guards even seemed to be dozing off early on in the evening. She first sought out her prey in the dungeons. She lurked in the shadows and stalked by empty and full cells. He wasn't there. When she stopped, she stopped in front of the cell that used to be hers. There was still blood in the floors and on the ceiling.

She walked in slowly and was immediately hit with a flood of emotions. She stopped in the doorway and clutched the doorway. Shutting her eyes, she put a clamp on her emotions. Sàga couldn't let her emotions get ahead of her. She had to get her revenge against the ones who did this to her. Sighing, she turned her back and let a growl pull from her throat.

As she walked out towards the barracks, she cloaked herself with the magic Loki taught her. She snuck quietly out into the cool Asgardian air, past the guards, and finally snuck off to the barracks. Almost immediately her prey came stumbling out, full of bad drink and laughing loudly. He was alone. It would make her job much easier.

He was always full of the bad drink; he smelled like it too. A low growl erupted from her throat just at the sight of him. He stopped and looked around like he had heard her. Sàga was so close. She could smell the bad drink on his mouth. She had to wait though. All she could do was let her eyes burn into his back as he stumbled through the streets of Asgard.

He stumbled into an inn above a closed bar, tripping up the stairs, and Sàga quietly stalked behind him. He bought a room and lazily stared at a line of chatting females. He pointed to one and seemed to buy her before he stumbled into a room. He was…was he going to hurt her like he hurt Sàga. She wouldn't let him do that.

The second they were both inside the room, Sàga waited until he lay down to grab him by the throat. She thought he was asleep, so she clamped down. She choked off his airway with both hands, so he couldn't scream. His eyes snapped open and searched the room. Out of reflex, he grabbed at the air around him, searching for her. When he caught her by the jaw, he punched her off him and onto the floor. Her shoulder caught on the edge of the bedside table, making her give away her position via a yelp.

"Alright, where art thou?!" he slurred. "I can hear thee," he grumbled as he searched around the room with fumbling hands.

Sàga growled and took a swing with her claws, catching the bad man in the forearm, cutting deeply into his arm meat. He grunted and took a step back as blood seeped from the wound. The next swing got his collar bone, where his neck met his body, nicking his jugular. He screamed and fell to his knees, making Sàga growl deep in her chest. Kill. Kill him. She would kill him for hurting her! For killing her pup! From where she was in comparison to him, she could easily bite and slice away as she pleased. He was stunned, like a large animal during hunts with her pack.

The first bite made blood spurt into her mouth and down her throat. The man struggled weakly against her, but she only rewarded him with a slash to his back. Soon, she was sticky with blood and the man was long since dead. Several minutes went by before Sàga even considered stopping in her feeding. The body on the ground was quite a mess. The flesh was ripped and sliced away as if it had been put through the meat grinder in the royal kitchen. With each new blow, there was a loud "thud-squelch." When she was done, she left the body, licking up what was in her teeth and under her nails on her way back.

She watched as the woman the man picked walked past her on the stairs. Maybe she would be happy that Sàga killed him. When she got back to her rooms, she went to the bathroom to take a bath and scrub all the blood and tissue away. It was brief because she didn't want Loki to be suspicious of her if he woke up. When she finished, she went back to bed, slipping in beside Loki and curling up against his warm side.

_Everything would be okay soon. So soon…_


	34. Chapter 34

Loki sighed tiredly and hopelessly as he combed over the evidence found at Stagrun Inn. There, a man was brutally murdered and ripped to shreds. Even Tyr had trouble holding down his morning meal at the sight of him. This victim was a guard for Asgard's prison Sector A. Loki remembered him as the idiot who brought his meals during his served time.

His face was completely gone. The throat was ripped out, fingers were ripped off, and the list went on for eons. The only way they knew who he was was by his cloak with his family crest sewn in. It was disturbing to say the least. Apparently, a prostitute found him when she walked into his room. It all happened within ten minutes. How then, did the killer slip away without anyone—including Heimdall—noticing them?

Thor was pacing the room, making a rut in Loki's Skrummle-skin rug. "Were there any witnesses? Any at all?"

"Nay, Stagrun is known for its promiscuous trades. Nary would breathe a word even if they saw the culprit. It makes no sense. None!"

"Evidence?"

"Plenty," he said sarcastically. "It's an Inn, Thor. Of course there's evidence. No one is clean in that district of Asgard. We could force servants to take samples of that room for months."

"We should alert the city. Tell them to keep their children inside, lock all doors and windows, and arm themselves."

"Nay, they art only targeting Asgardian military. They have yet to attack a civilian. What I fear is the steady climb in ranks. First, it was a Sector G guard. Then the third attack was a Sector B. Now we've lost a Sector A guard. At this rate, we shall be attacked."

"The city should still know."

"Thou shalt cause a riot. Tis unwise," he sighed into his palm.

"I will not lie to them, brother!" Thor snarled. "Nor will I keep them from the truth. I have seen the damage such actions have done to thee."

Loki was not about to go down _that _road again. He would ignore that comment. "They are keeping to no schedule either."

"I spoke with the Man of Iron a few days ago on the matter. He thinks we may have serial killer on our hands."

"Pardon?"

"Tis a killer who kills many times. Usually, they have a motive and a pattern."

Loki looked from Thor to the papers in front of him. A motive could help them in finding whoever was responsible. If they were going after only the military, they obviously had something against it. Perhaps it was a trainee that failed his exams or a widower that lost his wife. Maybe it was a shield maiden who was removed. Loki had personally filtered out the military when he began impersonating Odin. He let go of many mediocre soldiers that were just dead weight.

"We are looking for someone who hates either the military or the changing of the government."

"Truly? But there hasn't been a kinslaying since the early days of Bor."

"Perhaps it skips generations," Loki mused.

"What should we do then?"

Loki shrugged. "We could start keeping the guard more exercised. I see to many fat soldiers lazing about. Tis a miracle we are not dead yet."

"Come," Thor said with a weary sigh before smacking Loki on the shoulder. "Tis time for dinner. We shall talk of this later. Our women will be seeking our presence."

Only at the mention of Sàga—his bride—did Loki even consider listening to Thor and his suggestions. They walked and mocked each other jovially as they once did as boys. When they entered the dining hall, however, they encountered quite a surprise. Jane and Sàga were sitting together talking and giggling like children.

Then Jane was suddenly hugging Loki. "Congratulations! Oh, I'm so excited."

"Get. Off. Of. Me," he shoved her into Thor with a snarl. "I do not want thy mortal skin tainting my armor."

That would hopefully cause a shard of pain. Only a few days ago, Thor had taken Jane to see Idunn about getting an apple of immortality. Idunn had gone to the trees and spoke Jane's name in soft whispers as she went to the fountain of golden waters. Idunn dipped one of Jane's hairs into the water and had waited for four hours, but no apple bobbed up from in the waters. The trees of immortality had denied Jane their fruits. Jane was cursed to die a mortal's death.

"What is your cause for such merriment?" Thor inquired.

"Gentlemen," she announced. "Sàga is very late for something important in a…woman's life."

"For what?" Loki asked absently. He honestly just wanted her to leave him be as was normal.

"Guess," she said, looking next to Thor, but he had an expression of mild curiosity and incomprehension much like Loki.

"Perhaps thy mortal tis not as wise as thou thought, brother," Loki sneered.

Jane scoffed and smacked his arm. "What I mean is that Sàga may start getting sick in the morning...and noon...and night!" she squealed in excitement before going to sit with Sàga.

Both men looked as if they'd been struck upside the head. What had Jane been drinking? They both sat beside each other since their respective females chose to sit beside each other whispering like pubescent teens. Loki only hoped Jane wasn't putting useless things in Sàga's head. As the food was being placed on the table, Jane continued to babble on and on.

Loki rolled his eyes and slid his leg around Sàga's underneath the table. Sàga peeked under the table before following it to him and smiling at him, wrapping her bare feet about his leg. Loki was beginning to think his etiquette lessons were getting nowhere. That's when he felt it. There was a faint secondary pulse of life under Sàga's skin. Loki used his magic to probe further and nearly lurched from his seat.

"Thou art with child."

"Surprise!" Jane smiled. "That's what I've been trying to tell you guys."

Recovering from the shock first, Thor scraped his hand along his chin. "Tis a wonderful occurrence, brother. Congratulations. Tis not often Asgardians are blessed with two pregnancies to close together."

Loki wanted to stab him with his fork. They had a murderer on the loose, and his bride was pregnant. That was not good news to Loki! That was a nightmare! He would have to double...no, triple her guard. He needed to stay with her as much as possible, and a healer needed to be near in case there were more complications. The thought of losing another babe was…he didn't think he and Sàga could take another loss.

"Oki," Sàga beckoned., likely noting his silence.

"Y-Yes?"

"Okay? Look bad."

"Sàga is right. Thou art pale," Thor mumbled around a leg of pork.

"Tis nothing," Loki muttered. "Loer."

"Sire?" the captain of the guard questioned from his post behind Loki.

"Triple Sàga's guard until our...our new friend is located."


	35. Chapter 35

Sàga sat quietly under the cloak of magic watching the one called Hogun as he walked. After killing every guard that so much as touched her, she was ready to move onto the next phase of her vengeance. The entire reason she and Loki were imprisoned was because of Sif, Hogun, Volstagg and Fandral's treason against them. Loki said it was so. They were bad, but they were never punished. Thor just let them go on because they were his friends. That wasn't right. No…not at all. That's why they deserved to die. Bad people never should exist.

With the extra guards following her around and Loki always staying near, it was much harder for Sàga to find time to sneak away and attack the warriors. She had gotten lucky though tonight. Thor and the Warriors had gone on a successful hunt, and there was a grand celebration upon their return. Everyone was drunk and tired. She was ready for a hunt; her fingers practically itched for it. After Loki and Sàga retired, she only had to wait for her opportunity. She had studied Hogun's schedule for a week, and since it didn't differ much she would have no trouble in finding the time to strike and kill him.

After a while, he started to walk towards his chambers within the palace. Even though he had several mugs of the bad drink, he didn't stumble like the guards did. He was very alert. He would be a hard prey to kill without help, and Sàga had no help. All she had was herself and the pup in her belly. Sàga was lurking in the shadows, following like the predator she was. She slipped into his chamber like a snake and waited until he had his back turned to her.

He began to strip off his armor, and he let down his hair before striding towards the bathing room. Now would likely be the only time to catch him off guard since he already checked the room. She waited for him to visibly relax. That's when Sàga struck him with a statue, and he crumbled to the ground in a heap of unconscious Vanir.

This time, Sàga pulled out a knife, and started cutting him into pieces. Since she was pregnant, she wouldn't be eating her prey. Loki said raw meat was bad for the baby. She didn't want to hurt her baby….never again. Hogun woke just in time to feel her cut off his biggest toe as if she was cutting a vegetable into chunks. She moved down both feet as he screamed in a disoriented haze. Then she moved up and slashed his eyelids off with messy strokes of the sharp blade.

He finally started to blindly lash out like she expected her dying prey to, trying to hit Sàga or grab for his weapons. She caught one of his hands as it flailed and hacked away all of his fingertips, using a slow sawing motion. This was going to be slow because he needed to be punished. Then she started slicing off chunks of skin from random places on his body. Slowly, Hogun was beginning to stop fighting her off of him.

He was finally losing enough blood to hinder him. He began to groan and water actually slid from his eyes. Sàga had never seen Hogun cry before, and she paused to look closer in fascination. That was when she ended it. She used her knife to turn his head to mush. She was no longer interested in hurting Hogun. Now he felt only a little of what she had felt; his punishment was finished.

She had every intention of leaving him there until someone came for him as she used his bath and cleaned herself up. However, she noticed a bruise on her arm where he had caught her and a cut on her palm from where her knife slipped during her mushing of his brain. It must have slipped from all the blood and goo. She would have to be more careful with the next two. If she got caught, they would blame Loki, and he would get in trouble for what she did. She couldn't lose him, but…she also didn't want him to hate her.

Sàga knew Loki was investigating what she did. It hurt when he talked about her like she was some horrible person. She didn't want him to hate her because she loved her mate so much. He could never know about all the bad things she had done. If he did, he would leave her…maybe he would put her back in the cage. He may even take their pup away from her. Sàga couldn't bare such a thought.


	36. Chapter 36

Loki smiled as he traced protective seidr runes of Frigga's design into the soft skin of Sàga's belly with his forefinger. She did the same for many new mothers that she saw in the royal courts. He tucked her under the furs, pulling her nude body to his own and out of the bitter cold air of the room. She immediately snuggled down into the pillow and leaned back into him.

"Excited for pup," she said quietly.

"As am I. Our child will be like thee in every way. She will have thy beauty, thy golden locks, and thine sweet, lilting voice."

"Na," she said smiling. "Be like Oki."

"Nay, my beloved, she will not have my temper…but she will have my intelligence. There will be no pieces of her heart missing. She will know where she belongs, and she shall know she is loved."

Sàga smiled and began trying to jerk Loki down onto her. "Again. Want again."

"Sàga, thou art becoming insatiable," Loki chortled.

He slid into Sàga carefully, using controlled, lazy strokes to coax her along into passion. She whined low in her throat as she curled herself around Loki, claws pulling at his skin on his shoulders and back. Her hair fanned out in a tangled mess across the pillows as he pushed harder and further in.

The new soul inside her was growing excited as Sàga's heart rate rose. Loki was infatuated with this child now growing in his consort's womb. He ran his hand over her belly and sensed the runes he planted, and he felt the pulsing of the new life with his seidr, reaching into her skin and muscles to sense it. He could almost feel the babe within her forming blood, hair, and organs. He didn't understand how he could already love something so deeply without truly feeling or seeing its presence.

Loki spurred on faster, making Sàga arch off the bed like some wild temptress. Arousal welled up in him further when he realized he was the one who made her into such a minx. With a rough sound, he shoved her down further into the mattress, using the headboard to shove further in. The silkiness of Sàga's lips scraped Loki's throat as she groaned. When she exhaled, Loki seized upon it, catching her in a kiss. That's when she exploded against him. Loki nearly lost himself as he fell into oblivion along with her.

"Brother, I-"

"By the Nine, Thor!" Loki snapped immediately using himself to cover Sàga's bare skin. "Have you no sense of decency?!"

The threads were cut, severing Loki from the moment between Sàga and their infant in her womb. He could already feel their absence like a frayed nerve. He wanted the connection to continue. He needed to feel it almost as much as he needed the very air around him.

"Forgive me, brother...m'lady."

"Is okay," Sàga waved as she tried to peek around Loki like a child. Loki held her close despite her squirming. She still lacked that sense of modesty.

"What dost thee want, Thor?"

"There's been another murder."

Loki instantly clothed both he and Sàga with his seidr. This was indeed worth the interruption. "Who? Where? When was it?"

"Last night, they killed Hogun within our own walls. Tis truly a gruesome sight. A cooking knife was used and then left in his rooms."

Loki instantly looked at the cut on Sàga's hand.

She had been sneaking around alone lately. Her guards oft complained that she was hard to keep an eye on when she wanted to be alone. Loki knew for a fact that sometimes she would leave bed in the night for long periods of time. He never said anything because he figured it was because of her pregnancy sickness. But now...

Could she...could she be the one doing all the killing? He grew tense beside her and turned to her. He told her to rest until he returned from the scene. "Let us go, then."


	37. Chapter 37

He honestly couldn't pinpoint the moment he had fallen in love with his beloved consort…his wife. It had been like waking from a deep sleep for Loki. It happened without him noticing, and then, all at once, he realized he was smitten with her. This broken, young thing had somehow latched onto Loki's unhealed wounds and fused herself to him. She had her own wounds he helped to mend. It only brought them closer.

However, now that she had fused herself to him, he could hardly imagine losing her. That was the position he felt he was in at the moment. He was pacing outside his bedchamber thinking these things as pain-filled screams pierced the quiet of the Asgardian morning. They were his dearest's screams of agony that he was and had been hearing.

Loki moved to lunge for the door for the fourth time in the dark morning, but Thor was there again to pull him back onto the bench in the golden hall. Ever since word broke out nearly two hours earlier that Sàga had gone into labor, Thor and Jane had come running. Jane of course was allowed to stay with Sàga, but Loki was stuck worrying outside the room with his oaf of a brother. He was about to destroy something from not knowing whether or not Sàga was okay. He vowed to protect her! He couldn't protect her or his child if he was in a bloody hallway.

"Be at peace, brother. Tis the natural way of things."

"Such unearthly screams should not be the natural way. Thor, that's Sàga in there...my Sàga screaming."

"All will be well."

"Of course thou can say such things. Tis not thy woman screaming," Loki snapped as he paced, and Thor sat.

Another blood chilling scream and sob interrupted their conversation. It chilled Loki, and it made his body go numb.

"I must go to her."

"Nay, Loki. Thou art already unpopular in the eyes of the public as is. Besides, Eir will have thine head if thou dost."

Before Loki could respond cattily, he noticed something. There was no more screaming; there was just silence. Both Loki and Thor turned to the door anticipating news. Loki just needed to know both of them were okay. At that moment, a servant peeked her head out meekly. "Sires-"

"How is she?" Loki inquired before she could even finish. "How doth the babe fare?"

"Lady Sàga requests thine presence."

Loki nearly shoved the servant out of his way to get into the room. It reeked of sterilizing herbs and pain relieving teas, and there was loud infantile screaming in the bathroom. He immediately dashed to his beloved and climbed into the bed behind her. He used his body to prop her up and allow her to relax. She looked paler than seemed possible, and she looked so weak and frail. Her fingers dug into his left hand and right wrist as he pulled her up into his chest to make them more comfortable.

Eir carried in a bundle with a soft smile on her lips from the bath chamber. Loki was certain he had never felt more proud when he heard his little one's screams in the room. She was so strong. "Thine wife hast given us a princess."

Loki's face lit with a smile.

He hugged Sàga tightly to his chest, pressing his lips to her damp forehead and running his fingers through her damp hair. The child was passed to Sàga, and Loki carefully aided her as he looked at his daughter over her mother's pale, clammy shoulder. She was pink and squealing with a tuft of black hair, and he loved her immediately. She looked like a wrinkled angry thing, but it was clear enough that she was fierce. Even so, he was compelled to protect her from all the ills of the world. It was an entirely new feeling.

"She is beautiful," he whispered.

"Look," Sàga said softly. "Has thy hair."

"Indeed. She has thy skin."

"Oki…have red eyes."

Loki tensed. "Dost...dost thee like them?"

"Pretty."

Loki relaxed. Everything would be okay; he would make it so.


	38. Chapter 38

Sàga was getting out of practice in her hunting skills. Ever since having little Narfi, she had been bedridden from the strain and from blood loss during the birth. Loki had done so much for her. She owed it to him to finish what she started. He needed this revenge to…right? Now, however, she was back on the hunt. Her prey was Sif. Perhaps this would be all she needed to get the closer she so desperately needed in this chapter of her life. Loki and Thor had said that confronting one's enemies brings closure.

She caught Sif off guard after putting sleep herbs in her mead and dragged her into a boat hidden from those who passed. It had taken nearly two days to find a chance to spike her drink. The servant that served mead had been preoccupied with flirting, so Sàga took the chance to add the herbs Eir taught her about.

"Wake up," Sàga said, tapping her cheek with her claw.

This time she opted out of using the knife. It wasn't her style, and last time she used it, Loki had been wary of her. Was he suspicious? It didn't matter. She was going to go about this the old-fashioned way with teeth and nails. It was much more personal. Sàga just hoped it wouldn't hurt Narfi to take bites out of her remaining prey. She was desperately craving raw meat.

"What in the…Lady Sàga? What happened? Where…where are we?" Sif mumbled as she tried to move in her rope bonds. "W-What is this?! Unhand me! Loki! Loki I know thou art there. Thine wife is too stupid to think this up. Loki!" she spat trying to twist her head around.

"Shhh," Sàga said, covering her mouth. "Or Sàga will tie mouf."

"You and that bastard Jotun can rot in Hel! Help! Thor! Volstagg!"

Anger and fear filled Sàga. Did she not realize what she had done to Sàga?! She and those Warriors betrayed Loki and her when they brought Thor back. It was treason! Then because of them, Sàga lost her first baby, Vali, and she was hurt over and over again by the bad men. Did she say anything like an apology? No! No! She just let Sàga suffer.

Sàga realized vaguely she was screaming.

She couldn't see anything anymore but the color of blood, yet her claws somehow found their way to her throat. There was no actual blood. Sàga could hear her panicked yell as she held her throat tight in her hands. She continued until she felt her windpipe begin to give way under her hold. Then she released Sif's throat, and she began to hack, wheeze, and choke. Sàga lifted her face and slapped her roughly, making her head snap to the side.

She ripped her tunic and slashed her stomach with her nails. It was like digging through squishy, warm mud. She screamed, but Asgard had gone to sleep. No one would be helping her tonight. Sàga slashed three more cuts, taking out a chunk of skin, muscle and fat; blood spurted and covered them both like a hot shower. Some of it even dripped into the sand under the boat.

Sàga cleared her eyes of blood and looked to see vital organs: stomach, liver, lungs, entrails, all of it. She was alive, and yet all of her organs were out in the open. Sàga absentmindedly wondered what she had to eat throughout the day. Sif screamed as her knife-like claws slid through the lining of her stomach. Sif screamed even louder then.

When she made the cut, acids began to leak out, burning and dissolving her other organs into foul-smelling mush. Sàga made the cut larger, and the acids began to pour, slowly dissolving her insides. It would take hours for her to die this way. Sàga giggled as she watched Sif writhe and squirm.

"Sif? Sif?! Sif!"

A body collided with Sàga from behind.

A tuft of red beard tumbled over her shoulder, and instantly, she knew: Volstagg. This would be better. She could kill two birds with one stone. Sàga scooped up Sif's stomach and shoved it into Volstagg's face. He screamed and retched as he tumbled over the edge of the boat and into the sand below. Sàga followed and ripped her claws over his face. Blood spurted out over the sand as he rolled to his side. Sàga used to opportunity to bite into his neck, taking out a massive chunk of flesh with her teeth.

"W-Wh-Wh-" he rasped.

"Oh…Volstagg," Sif moaned out with her final wheezes of breath.

"Betray Asgard. Make Sàga get hurt. Make lose baby. I make lose life."

With that, she made her final slice. She cut through his throat and used her teeth to crack his spine from behind. He died quickly only because she liked him the most out of the Warriors. He was still guilty though, and so he had to die. Now though she had to go home. Narfi would need feeding, and Loki couldn't help her with that.


	39. Chapter 39

"Oh, mother," Loki sighed raggedly as he conjured up an illusion of Frigga.

He had been walking through her gardens with Narfi in his arms, pondering what he should do. A week previous, Loki had followed Sàga to a boat where he watched her kill Sif and Volstagg rather viciously. She cleaned up before returning to the palace and taking care of Narfi as if she was the Sàga he thought he knew. For the first time since he'd met her, Loki actually feared her. Then he heard why she did it, and he understood everything. All of the murders had probable cause, and she was justified in her own mind. Why had she never told him though? Was he not trustworthy? Did she fear him or what he'd do to her?

"What troubles thee, dear heart?" the illusion said as she strolled alongside him. Oh, how he wished it was not an illusion, but one cannot send magical specters from Valhalla. If anyone could have though, it would have been her.

"Many things."

"Sometimes it is good to worry. Tis only because I worried about thee, Thor and Odin that thou hast survived this long."

Frigga would never take credit for all Odin's victories that had actually been of her making. She was not that kind of a person. She did not require validation or even acknowledgment of her contributions to her family or country's glory. She was content to see them happy and go on feigning ignorance for their sakes. Loki could never understand her way of thinking; for years he had tried to see things her way. He had tried, if only for her sake, to look beyond Odin and Thor's inadequacies and accept that though they sometimes hurt him, it was never done intentionally.

It never worked though, obviously. Odin's confession was the final straw that broke the already fragile bond they still had. Thor, though, was one Loki was learning to forgive. It had only taken five years to begin doing so which was quite the accomplishment on his part. Most of his reason this time came from his dearest Sàga. She didn't know it, but she had taught him so much about life in their short time together. He was finding himself enjoying life and family. His life was so dreary before her; he didn't know how he could keep waking every morning.

"Thor has made me King once again," he said to break the silence. He let Narfi wrap her tiny hand around his finger as she fought sleep by squirming and kicking out against his armor.

"I always knew thou would be a King."

"Didst thou also foresee thy death?" he asked stubbornly as he sat on a stone bench.

That was one thing he would never forgive Frigga for: dying. Why did she have to protect that foolish mortal by giving away her own life? Surely there had been another way. He would never forgive himself for showing Kurse the way out of the dungeons. It was all his fault she was gone, all his fault things had escalated to such heights. He had wanted Kurse to find Odin and beat him bloody, yes, but he never thought Frigga would become so involved.

"Loki," she chastised, sitting with him. "Accept that justice has been shown to us," she counseled as she sat beside him, straightening her skirts as she always did. "And thou wilt be the happier for it. Do not hold on to grudges or petty offenses; they will only weigh thee down. Allow thyself and others the benefit of the doubt, the freedom from resentment and thou wilt be happier for it."

"Thou always said that when those two blundering bucket heads hurt me," he thought ruefully. "I could forgive Thor for his insensitivity and arrogance because of thee. Thou hast inspired many of my forgivings."

"He means well. And art thou not more happy now that thou hast done so? Thor deals with the people as is his strength. Thou deal with legality and papers which is thy strength. Tis a perfect example of your bond."

"Then why didn't thou tell Odin that?"

"Odin and I are not cut of the same cloth. Thou know this, love," she said with a heavy sigh. Indeed, she often did not see the world as Odin did. If he had, maybe Loki's life wouldn't have been so misshapen and barren of happy fruits. "Just as thou and thine dear bride and Thor and Jane."

"Do not speak of that Midgardian."

Loki hated Jane. His mother, for some reason, deemed Jane worthy of her life. He did not think this was so. Because of Jane, he had been orphaned a second time. First, his biological family forsook him, and then his mother gave away her life to that accursed dark elf. Narfi sensed his growing anger and whimpered in the crook of his arm.

Frigga's illusion rubbed the little girl's cheek with her forefinger, and she calmed.

Frigga always had a calming effect on infants. She often went with another midwife of the court and assisted with births within both the upper and lower sects of Asgard. When Thor sometimes told Loki he was too little to enjoy his games, Loki would go with Frigga, and Loki would marvel at his mother's ability to cease an infant's wails.

"Thou must learn to forgive, love, or thou wilt never be happy with life."

"Satisfaction is not in my nature," he replied flatly.

"And yet thou now hast a beautiful daughter with an equally wonderful wife. Is that not satisfying to thee?"

"Indeed, it is but," Loki sighed at remembering Sàga. "She has killed many. What will I do? I cannot lose her. I cannot raise a babe on my own. I fear I shalt make it…like me. I will not put a child through such anguish."

"She had her purpose for killing them."

"Thor will kill her...I will kill him. It will be Ragnarok."

"Thor is not the brute thou believe him to be. He is quite understanding."

Loki sighed heavily. "He is in great pain. He saw Sif and Volstagg…he saw Hogun and Fandral. He nearly throttled her for Fandral's murder until he discovered what had happened. He may lose himself to his rage this time."

"Speak with him. Be his brother and not his enemy."

"Thou asketh much."

"I shall never give up on thee, my son. I have faith in thine abilities."

Loki sighed as he watched her fade away after kissing his cheek. Perhaps talking to Thor wasn't such a horrible idea. He needed to give Narfi to a nursery maid before he went since Sàga had gone out again. She told him she was going to buy cloth for the tailor to make Narfi more clothes, as if there wasn't enough already. Narfi was becoming their little baby doll they dressed in the finest linens; Narfi was spoiled to the core.

As he stood, he heard a page coming. "Sire."

"Speak."

"King Thor...I cannot find him. Hast thou seen him?"

Loki's mind instantly went to Sàga. Would she go after him? They seemed so amicable with each other, but he thought that about her and Volstagg as well. Fear and worry trickled down his back. What if she killed Thor? Asgard would demand her head.

"Nay. I will find him though."


	40. Chapter 40

He heard it again...he was sure.

There was a low gurgling noise that came from just a few feet away; it sounded like a caged beast growling at spectators and captors. Thor held back a pained groan as he lowered his head down onto whatever he was chained to once more after searching the dark room with his eyes. He needed Mjolnir, but he couldn't focus enough to call for her. His head was swimming, and he felt like he was in a hazy fog. Thor tried to think on what he last remembered. Oh, yes. Sàga brought him a mug of mead. Was he drugged by one of the cooks?

"Who's there?" he commanded. "Dost thou realize what thou hast done kidnapping a King of Asgard? Tis treason."

"Yes."

The voice was female.

He'd need to get it to talk more to determine who the voice actually belonged to. Knowing who it was from just one word was rather impossible to say the least. Thor lifted his head slightly, keeping the figure in front of him but out of his line of sight. The creature gave an angered snarl before gripping the side of Thor's head, forcing him to look it in the eye. It was Sàga. Thor felt a pang of fear and sadness. She was the killer. He never suspected her though; his brother would be horrified. He would likely relapse into his old ways, and there was nothing Thor could do.

"S-Sàga?" he asked, pale as a sheet.

"Hi, Thor-brover."

"Sàga...what's going on? Why art thou doing these things?"

"Thou die."

A sick feeling lurched in his stomach. "Why? Why hast thou done this?"

"Oki tell Sàga thee make her go to cold place. Thank thou. Go to cold place, meet Oki. But thou come back, use Sàga to hurt Oki, make Sàga go in cage, make hurt...make lose baby."

"I did not know you were imprisoned Sàga. Truly, I did not. If I had known, I would have gotten thee out...kept thee safe in the palace. I am truly sorry for that…and I apologize for using thee. I was desperate."

"No matter. Baby still gone. I kill others who hurt Sàga...hurt Oki too."

"Loki...is he in on this?" he needed to keep her talking, keep her from taking action.

"Oki no know about this. No want hurt Oki. No hurt Narfi either."

All of his anger and fear disappeared, every emotion other than regret and sadness left his body as quickly as it could, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. He knew he should be punished…just perhaps not this severely. Ever since they lost their child, Thor had felt guilty for what transpired in those dungeons. He thought his men were better than that. He was wrong. He could accept this...surely.

"Very well. Please, make it a swift death." Thor cinched his eyes shut when he felt her nails rest on his throat.

"Sàga!" Loki yelled, barging into wherever they were. "Sàga! Stop! Don't kill him!" he looked wild and frantic as he looked upon the scene.

Thor's eyes snapped open, and both victim and kidnapper stared at the new entry to the macabre scene in shock. Loki looked haggard and seemed to be panting from exertion. He never was an athletic one which said they were likely nowhere near the palace. Sàga was smarter than he gave her credit for.

"O-Oki...what...what doing here?" Sàga said as hse started to shake and backed away from the table Thor was chained to.

"I-I know why thou think...think thou must do this, Sàga. But thou dost not have to," he said, walking around to the opposite side of the table. "Thou must listen. I understand why thou hast done all this. All those people...those guards...they hurt thee."

Thor was slowly beginning to regain his head, and everything Loki said started making the puzzle fall together. Technically, under Asgardian law, the guards would be sentenced to death anyway. That still left his friends Sif and the Warriors. Could she truly justify her actions in that regard? Asgard would still demand a heavy price for her actions.

"Hurt...hurt bad," Sàga whimpered, caving in on herself. She was becoming volatile, and that meant she was dangerous. Loki likely knew that.

"And...and Sif and Hogun and Volstagg. They committed treason in several forms. They tried to assassinate us. Yes?"

"They hurt Oki. Hurt baby. Want keep safe. Want family happy."

Thor had to admit that by Asgardian law, attempted murder of any royal was considered treasonous. His friends had never told him about that, but Loki had mentioned it. Thor knew it was wrong to dismiss the charges so flippantly, but they were his companions. He didn't want to think them capable of such things. As much as he didn't want to believe it, Thor knew Sàga was indeed in the right. Technically she was a royal, and as a royal she could give out justice where it was needed.

"But Sàga, Thor has done nothing—as much as I am loathe to say it," Loki tried to get closer to her, but she flinched away. Both brothers tensed. She was like a bomb waiting to be touched in just the right way to explode. They needed to diffuse it. "If thou dost kill him...it will make us have to...to kill thee. Please, Sàga, my beloved, my heart," he said, his voice breaking only just so. Thor felt he was intruding on a private moment, but it wasn't like he could leave. "Don't make me lose thee. Don't leave Narfi without her mother."

"Sàga," Thor said as his senses cleared further. "I understand. Thou did not know we could help thee. Thou were scared to reach out, yes? Tis a common thing to feel ashamed."

She was silent.

"Sàga, I won't be upset. Neither will Loki or thy babe. We can forget all of this," he cajoled.

Sàga's eyes began to fill with tears.

This was the true moment. She sobbed suddenly and rushed into Loki's arms. He caught her readily and soothed her as if Thor was not tied to a table and they were alone. When she finished her sobbing, she went to Thor and slowly unchained him with shaky, delicate fingers. When he sat up, he hugged Sàga close to him. She was his sister by marriage after all, and she needed his approval. He was surprised to see Loki had drawn a weapon. Did he honestly think Thor would harm his wife? Did he trust him so little? He put it away though as Sàga withdrew from his hold.

"Need see Narfi. Need feed."


	41. Chapter 41

Huffing, Sàga worked to unlace the bodice of her purple dress and unwound the fur and silk from her shoulders. She was finally able to sneak off from the banquet. It was held mostly for Thor and Loki for "vanquishing the killer" before he killed any more of Asgard's warriors. It was also a funeral feast for those lost to his "mindless killing." Sàga was quite uncomfortable with being alone since Loki went to take care of Narfi when a nursery maid came and complained about her inability to soothe the baby.

Their daughter seemed quite stubborn and needing of a parent. Loki couldn't seem to get out fast enough as Thor danced with Sàga. Stripped to her slip, she parted from her bedroom, walking with determined steps to the adjoined room that held her baby and hopefully Loki as well. Sàga was eager to reach her destination.

On the other side of the nursery sat Loki's in his mother's old rocking chair. On his chest Narfi was sleeping softly; one of his long hands spread securely across her back for security. Narfi laid with a pudgy cheek pressed to Loki's chest, causing her tiny lips to be slightly parted. She slept with her arms and legs tucked up underneath her and her back slightly curved much like the pups in Sàga's pack. Sàga smiled as she hurried silently to reach her baby, observing her small form, smiling at the way Loki's lips were parted widely, snores escaping his mouth.

Sàga gently slid her hands under Narfi's chest and bottom, gingerly lifting her from Loki's hold. Her arms flailed in an uncoordinated motion, a small wail escaping her lungs as Sàga tucked her infant into her chest. Her baby rooted around before finding a comfy spot on her breasts. At the loss of contact, Loki's body jerked, his arm going to his chest and his eyes flying open as he conjured a dagger. When his green eyes landed on Sàga and Narfi, he settled.

Sàga sat on his lap, and she tucked herself into his arms and his chest. They tensed when Narfi whined at the jostling, but as Loki began to rock, she also started to settle. Movement often soothed their child. Loki and Sàga both were becoming quite good at walking the palace's empty halls in the dark. Sàga ran her hands against the silk of the baby's nightclothes in a soothing motion and pressed her lips to dark tufts of soft hair, breathing in the smell of her. She sighed, marveling at the calming effect the small, warm presence she held in her arms had on her.

"How was the rest of the banquet?" he whispered as he nuzzled her neck.

"No like."

Loki smirked. "Thou smell of confections."

"Like that part."

Loki chortled, laying his head on her shoulder. He lifted his hand, placing it gently on the back of Narfi's head, his thumb softly brushing against the smooth skin of her temple.

"Thou snore. Thou and baby sleep deep."

"We are discovering that we share many common interests, Narfi and I, aren't we? We both grow irritable when hungry. Her pulling of Thor's hair brings us both to laughing. We are both utterly inconsolable without thy presence either. It took me forever to get her to sleep again," he purred into her neck. "It seems I have not the proper equipment on me chest for a comfortable resting place."

Sàga giggled. "Love thee, Oki."

"I love thee as well."

-The End

**(Okay, this is the end. But wait, there's a sequel! Their story continues when Thor finds new love and new challenges! The first chapter should be up by today. Check out my profile, and follow me here and on tumblr.)**


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